Question

Examine the nature of ‘Balutedari’ system.

Answer 1

Answer:

In this core chapter which gives to our dissertation the title it carries, we

describe and discuss the various aspects of the baluta system as traditionally

received and which continued to prevail during the colonial period and even

thereafter, though perhaps still existing as a relic of the mediaeval system in the

remote villages of Maharashtra.

The various aspects of the system are discussed comparatively as far as

possible with the cognate village service systems found in different regions of

the country, briefly surveyed by us for the pre-British period in the preceding

chapter. However there is no question of comparing the baluta system of village

service with the dyadic system of patron-client jajmani, as both the systems are

conceptually distinct and different as Fukazawa' rightly argues. Orenstein's^ account

of baluta system in a Maharashtrian village supports his argument that there is a

"generalized village (to) servant relationship" and that the tie is between the

balutedar clan and the village as a whole and not between the households or castes,

with one significant exception being the domestic priest (purohita) serving only

his jajman. Therefore it is inaccurate to treat them as one. We have discussed the

two service systems earlier in a separate chapter.

In an attempt to picture up the continuity of the system amidst political and

economic changes ushered in during the colonial and post-colonial period, our

study presents data of the published and unpublished studies and surveys to discuss

the disarray of the system, its fragmentation and decline to the vanishing point.

In the course of the above discussion it also takes note of the demise of the old

Explanation:

Answer 2

Maharashtra is an agricultural state. In the past barter system existed in the villages and the farmer was at the center of this system.

• That is, the farmer used to grow the grain and those who were not farmers used to provide services to the farmer and others.

• In this, those who provide the casual needs of the farmer are called Alutedar (Naru) and those who provide important and regular needs are called Balutedar (Karu).  

• These were the vatanadars of the village and from generation to generation they did the same specific work.

• Baludars working with rural produce are paid under a complex commodity system.  

• This system was similar to the Jazmani system prevalent in North India during the same period.  But under the earlier system, the village varnas worked for the zamindar (jajman) or the largest zamindar family in the village whereas in the later system the varnas worked for the village.

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