Ownership of Land in Ancient India (From Vedic Age upto A.D. 650) An Old and Rare Book

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I feel great pleasure to contribute this foreward to Dr. Sunil Kumar Singh's book, The Ownership of Land in Ancient India which presents an analytical study of the problem of land ownership from vedic times to 650 A.D. Though some aspects of this topic have been treated by scholars in their monographs and books, this is for the first time that a comprehensive study has been made on this subject which, of late, has attracted the attention of scholars interested in early economic history of this land. When the author came to me, sometime after taking his M.A. degree for a suggestion about the topic of his research, I suggested him to take up the study of the problem of land-ownership in ancient India-a subject of his interest with which he was then himself associated as a Assistant Survey and Settlement Officer. It is gratifying to me that he accepted my suggestion and devoted himself whole heartedly to the persuit of this topic. He worked ceaselessly with a great deal of earnestness, and inspite of his onerous duties as an administrative officer, has successfully completed his work. While dealing with different aspects of Land-Owner- ship Dr. Singh has taken into consideration various theories advanced by previous scholars on the subject and has, on the basis of recent archaeological and literary evidences, drawn his own inferrences in a critical and scientific way which marks a complete departure from the current trend in the field. One may or may not agree with all his views, but there is no 3doubt that the present work will serve for long as a guide to the inquisitive researchers in the field because of its scientific interpretation of information contained in known sources and fresh approach to the various topics hitherto ignored. Dr. Singh really deserves our thanks for this scholarly work.

The present work has emerged from a thesis for which I was granted the Doctor of Philosophy by the Magadh University, Bodhgaya in September, 1986.

The problem of land ownership has been studied by many scholars in the past and present but the curiosity to have a detailed account resulted in the present monograph. Fragmented works on this topic have appeared at many place but through this comprehensive study it is hoped this will stimulate further studies on the subject.

The first chapter delineates the importance of the present study and its source materials. The second chapter deals with the meaning of the land ownership. The third chapter is devoted to the private ownership of land along with its meaning, scope and the extent to which it prevailed during the period under review. The fourth chapter narrates the various aspects of royal ownership and the fifth chapter portrays communal ownership with its growth and development. In the sixth chapter an effort has been made to draw a conclusion after the study of all aspects of land ownership.

In preparation of this work I owe a debt of gratitude to many scholars and authorities. I must express my gratefulness to Dr. Upendra Thakur, Prof. and Head of the Department of Ancient Indian and Asian Studies, Magadh University, Bodhgaya for guiding me with compassion and compulsion.

I also acknowledge my grateful obligations to Dr. M.D. Aqique, Dr. Vijay Kumar Thakur and Dr. Kameshwar Prasad for their kind and valuable suggestions.