Question

What was known as 'Brahmadeya'?

Answer 1

Hint: It is also called Agrahara villages. It was followed up by the generals, traders, feudatories, etc. It was given to Brahmanas.

Complete Answer:
- Brahmadeya was formulated by the Brahmanical texts as the safest and surest means to accomplish merit and eliminate sin. Brahmadeya was a duty free land gift either in form of single plot or whole villages donated to Brahmanas by making them land-owners.
- The gifts of land were mainly chosen around the irrigation facilities such as tanks or lakes and were thought to be operable in order to satisfy the needs of the donees.
- In the absence of such facilities, different means of irrigation technique were established near the brahmadeyas. It was implemented during the early medieval India. It was originally practiced by the ruling dynasties. Later, it was followed up by the generals, traders, feudatories, etc.
- Brahmadeyas were able to draw virgin land under cultivation and to combine the prevailing rural settlement into a new economic order, monopolized by the Brahmanas proprietor.
- Brahamdeyas also supported the ruling families as they did earn the ideological assistance for their political power. Hence, brahmadeyas were said to be a principal trait of the Indian feudalism.

Note: The Guptas and the Kushans played a crucial role in the introduction and exercise of feudalism in India, and are instances of the fall of an empire caused by feudalism. Each brahmadeya was looked after by a sabha of Brahmana landholders and were highly worthwhile. The trader federation called nagarams also helped in the town administration. This was widely practised in South India.