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History · Ch 8 — Peasants, Zamindars and the State — Agrarian Society and the Mughal Empire
The British officials who studied Indian villages in the nineteenth century often romanticised them as “little republics”. They imagined these communities as fraternal partnerships where everyone shared resources and labour collectively. This picture, however, was deeply misleading.
Far from being egalitarian, the Mughal village was marked by individual ownership of assets and sharp inequities based on caste and gender. A small group of powerful individuals — usually from dominant landholding castes — controlled village affairs. They exploited weaker sections, dispensed justice, and made all key decisions. The village was not a harmonious collective; it was a hierarchy.
The phrase “little republic” suggests equality and shared rule. In reality, the village was run by a handful of powerful men who held authority over others — it was a republic only for the few. …