TERMS OF MEDIEVAL AND
MODERN INDIA
SOCIO-ECONOMIC SYSTEMS
Ayagar It was a Socio-economic system which originated first in the
System Karnataka region in ancient period and then spread to Tamil
and Andhra regions in the medieval period. It meant that the
requirements of the rural population in certain goods and
social services were met by a staff of professionals, who
were remunerated not with the payment for work done, but
summarily with a fraction of gross agricultural produce,
called Ayam. All village artisans and menials together with
the community administrative staff were therefore known by
the common name of ayagars (receivers of the ayam).
Baluta Similar to the ayagar system, it was prevalent in western
System India and Deccan during the medieval period. Under this
system a fixed annual share of each peasant family’s corn
and garden produce, called baluta, was permanently assigned
for the subsistence of about 12 village servants and artisans
called balutadars (carpenter, blacksmith, potter, barber,
wash-erman, shoemaker, rope-maker, mahar, etc.). They
were not employed by individual peasant families (as under
the jajmani system) but by the village as a whole and were
expected to serve the villagers whenever required in their
respective capacities fixed by their castes.
Jajmani It was a reciprocal system of prescribed rights and
System obligations between specific rural families. Under this
system jajmani families, generally the landowners, received
goods and services from the kamin families of village
artisans and servants, and made customary payments to them.