Zamindars of Bihar

Maharaja Mitrajeet Singh of Tekari Raj

Rai Hariprasad Lal of Gaya

Kunwar Singh of the Jagdishpur estate

Maharaja Lakshmeshwar Singh of Raj Darbhanga in 1888.

The Zamindars of Bihar were the autonomous and semi-autonomous rulers and administrators of the subah of Bihar during Mughal rule and later during British rule. They formed the landed aristocracy that lasted until Indian independence in 1947.^[1] The zamindars of Bihar were numerous and could be divided into small, medium and large depending on how much land they controlled.^[2] Within Bihar, the zamindars had both economic and military power. Each zamindari would have their own standing army which was typically composed of their own clansmen.^[3]

The majority of these zamindars usually belonged to Hindu communities such as Rajputs, Bhumihars, Brahmins, Kayasthas or Muslims.^[4]

The Forward Caste Zamindars also participated in the politics of state of Bihar, and had significant presence in politics in the first few decades of independence. However, since 1970, they started losing this presence and according to DM Diwakar, former Director of AN Sinha Institute of Social Sciences, they were converted into "silent onlookers" by 2020, amidst assertion of Backward Castes and Dalits.^[5] Bihar's land reform drive of 1950s led to liquidation of the large landholdings of the big landlords. In the wake of this change, many well to do peasant communities started increasing their landholdings at the cost of big Zamindars. Although, the benefits of these reforms weren't percolated down to the lowest strata of Bihar's society, the Schedule Castes, many new landlords of the post reform period hailed from groups such as Koeri, Kurmi and Yadav caste of Bihar.^[6]

Mughal rule in Bihar was characterised as turbulent and volatile as many of the region's zamindars made continuous efforts to defy the imperial authority.^[7]

The nineteenth-century British civil servant, John Beames noted about Mughal-ruled Bihar that "everyone who was powerful enough to rob the state or his neighbours, robbed to his hearts content".^[8] Zamindars refusing to pay the state and gathering forces to attack neighbouring zamindars was a common practice in Bihar during this period.^[8]

This attitude to authority continued into the period when the Nawabs of Bengal and Murshidabad became the nominal governors of Bihar. Although Bihar had the potential to provide a large amount of revenue and tax, records show that the Nawabs were unable to extract any money from the chiefs of Bihar until 1748. And even following this, the amount gained was very low. This was again due to the rebellious nature of the zamindars who were "continually in arms".^[9]

After the collapse of the Mughals, the British East India Company held sway over much of South Asia.^[10] The colonial power wanted the revenue system "to be simple in its principle and uniform in its operation," but the zamindari system was so ingrained that even the early British rulers, from the grant of Dewani (1765) to the Permanent Settlement (1793), dared not challenge it fundamentally. The early British rulers did not want any "innovation" or "experimentation," even if the zamindars, taluqdars, and many estates were defaulters to the government for not paying the raised land fee. This was because such a radical measure would have violated the 'customary' rights and privilege.^[11]

With the exception of a few new men here and there, the old landed nobility formed the social cornerstone of the new establishment in 1793. One could claim that the early British emperors were dependent on a customary class of upper caste aristocrats. Since the majority of zamindars involved in estate auctions were Brahmins or members of upper caste families, Hastings was against the open selling of estates and instead supported giving them a higher position in the rural power structure. The zamindars of Bihar seem to have suffered far less than the old zamindars of Bengal and Orissa, who suffered considerably. The Darbhanga Raj, the Hathwa Raj, the Tekari Raj, the Deo families in Gaya, and the Dumraon families in Shahabad were among the prominent zamindars of Bihar who enjoyed prosperity.^[12]

The Brahmins held possession of Darbhanga, Ramnagar, Rajnagar, Champanagar, Ranti, Saifganj, Pakur, Srinagar, Barari, Partappur, Sursand zamindaris. Bhumihars held possession of Bettia, Hathwa, Madhuban, Sheohar, Tekari, Bodh Gaya, Maksudpur, Manjhi, Parsa, Chainpur, Dharhara, Budhauli and a plethora of other places. Gidhaur, Ramnagar, Ramgarh, Biher, Kulharia, and Dumraon were Rajput estates, while Kayathas controlled two other significant zamindaris, Baghi and Surajpura.^[12]

The goal behind the establishment of the revenue farms in Bengal and Bihar was to obtain the highest possible share of the net produce and then fix it for all time under the Permanent Settlement. The colonial authority began to require the zamindars in place, including those who were established as landowners for all time, to make a regular, ongoing payment.^[13]

The Permanent Settlement act by the British East India Company did not significantly alter the landholding patterns in Bihar, leaving Rajputs and Bhumihars as the major Zamindars. It curtailed some of their powers, but also took away the customary occupancy rights of the peasantry.^[14]

The British rule enabled Rajputs to continue their dominance by cementing their entitlements related to land and tax collection.^[15] Exercise of coercive power by the dominant castes^[16] over the vulnerable landless labourers took various forms such as forced labour, higher rents, lower wages, social restrictions, evictions and sexual harassment.^[14]: 75 Rape of women from lower caste by Rajput and Bhumihar landowners was common in the Shahabad district,^[14] particularly in couple of villages of Bhojpur (modern name for Shahabad district), where sexual desire of the upper-castes was satisfied through arrogant and unrestricted access to the modesty of women belonging to Chamar and Musahar caste.^[17][18] Emerging organizations of middle peasant castes like Triveni Sangh^[14] and Kisan Sabhas took up the issues of exploitation,^[19] with the Naxal threat also acting as a check.^[17]

Following independence in 1947, there was large-scale support in Bihar for the abolition of zamindari especially among peasants, agricultural labourers and the urban middle-class who stood to gain the most from this.^[20] This culminated in a large-scale movement in support of abolition led by lower-castes. The Bhumihar zamindars realised that abolition was going to occur and planned for abolition to be on their terms.^[20] However, the Rajput-Kayastha zamindars strongly resisted this. Eventually, the Bihar Abolition of Zamindaris Act was passed in 1949.^[20] "The abolition of the zamindari system had a profound impact on the social landscape. Many upper-caste zamindars, who had long held power and privilege, were stripped of their land and influence. Meanwhile, descendants of Kayastha zamindars, who had historically wielded significant local influence, adapted to the new political landscape by engaging in local panchayat politics. This shift allowed them to maintain their influence and shape the destiny of their communities, fostering a new era of grassroots leadership and social change."

In the later period of time, when the abolition of Zamindari took place in Bihar and the castes like Yadav, Kurmi, Koiri and Bhumihar became the prime movers of the emerging capitalist agriculture system of central Bihar. The new semi-feudal social order brought unintended benefits for these caste groups in which the question of dignity and minimum wages came to the fore. The Green Revolution further benefited these communities.^[21] Hence, in later periods, many landed Other Backward Castes also emerged as zamindars, primarily from a group called Upper Backward Castes.^[22]

Prior to the independence of India, many forward caste Zamindars started taking interest in politics, and they also participated in the Quit India Movement, anticipating the end of British rule, which protected them. According to DM Diwakar, a former director of Patna’s AN Sinha Institute of Social Sciences, these feudal elites had significant presence in politics of the state in first few decades of the post-independence period, but they started losing this significant position in 1970s. In the first tenure of Nitish Kumar, they staged a comeback in the politics of state, but in the next tenures, they were completely marginalised and according to Diwakar, were converted into "silent onlookers" by 2020.^[5]

Rai Sital Prasad Bahadur, an aristocratic landlord from Gaya

The haveli of the Kayasth Rajas of Surajpura, this was one of the largest zamindari in North Bihar. The haveli now has been converted into a government school.

• Banaili
• Deo Raj
• Murho Estate
• Ratan Estate
• Hathwa Raj
• Tekari Raj
• Kharagpur Raj
• Namudag raj^[3][23][24]
• Bettiah Raj
• Jagdishpur estate
• Dumraon Raj
• Raj Darbhanga
• Cheros of Palamu
• Ramgarh Raj
• Sonbarsa Raj
• Jharia Raj
• Gidhaur Raj

• Indian feudalism
• Indian honorifics
• Jagirdar
• Ghatwals and Mulraiyats
• Thakur
• Zamindars of Bengal