64 SOCIAL SCIENTIST zamindars all probably have had a part in determining this result. Still, it has to be admitted that no last word can be said on so complex a matter as the role of the peasants in a civilisation. The history of the Indian peasantry did not end with the 17th or 18th century with which T have closed. The peasantry's first steps towards the attainment of its self-awareness is an achievement of the National Movement, for whose success the peasants were so largely responsible. It is apparent, however, that many of the burdensome vestiges of the past, the divisions and superstitions, still hinder the cementing of those bonds among the peasants and the rural poor which are so essential for the advance towards a just society in India.