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KASHMIR: THE LAND AND ITS MANAGEMENT FROM ANCIENT TO MODERN TIMES by D.N. Dhar Kanishka Publishers, New Delhi, 2004, 270pp. Rs.595/-.
Agrarian relations have been the focus of attention for researchers both in India and abroad. The issue has been of great importance in Kashmir for the obvious reason that the revolutionary land reforms in the State transferred, overnight, the proprietorships of land from jagirdars and the big landed estate holders to the actual tillers of the land without any compensation. So the author has very aptly introduced this work with these lines, "when one digs deep into the annals of long and obscure history of Kashmir, it appears that the peasant-son of the soil has a long tale of woe to narrate. Not that his brethren from other parts of the sub-continent did not have a story of their own but the specific conditions of geography and history made all the difference . . . He had to struggle in isolation from the world around. He dug a long furrow."
With the help of requisite evidence, the author has shown how during ancient times the land was swayed by a class of land grabbers called Dammaras and by a spree of land grants (Agraharas) to various temples and Viharas, which Agrahara Managers managed in a very arbitrary fashion. "How was the man behind the plough placed in relation to his master," asks the...