DYNAMICS OF PROPERTY RELATIONS IN COLONIAL AWADH 31 throw into sharper relief the more significant movements in the historical process.7 II The present study attempts to examine the dynamics of emerging property relations, consequent contradictions in Awadh through actual working of the law of property, i.e., Oudh Rent Act of 1886.8 It is our contention that a study of property 'law in action* by examining a number of court cases related with ORA, 1886, will lead us to understand the emerging property relations and thereby: (a) the character of each stratum, contradictions and antagonism between strata and (b) implications of such property framework for the peasant rebellion of 1920s in Awadh. We have taken Pratapgarh district9 as our unit of analysis. The primary data are related to ORA, 1886 and its working. We have examined 30 cases related to the Act, from 1909 to 1920. Though all the cases reported in the law volumes related with ORA, 1886 at the level of Board of Revenue have been examined, these are selective10, as: (1) these are selected decisions (considered to be important from the point of law); and (2) these belong only to the highest grades of courts, i.e., the Board of Revenue.11 After discussing the above mentioned problem and its methodology, in the next section* we have presented a brief account of property legislations till 1886, followed by a brief sketch of legal categories as per control on land, finally envisaged in ORA, 1886. In the fourth section, the court cases are discussed in terms of emerging property relations and resulting contradictions and conflicts. In the fifth section, the socio-economic conditions in Pratapgarh district are presented to substantiate the conclusions derived from the analysis of court cases upto 1920. Finally, some general conclusions regarding property relations and its implications for peasant uprisings of 1920s are presented. Ill In Awadh, prior to British intervention, landed property was hierarchically divided, peasants being hereditary occupants (with varied qualities of distribution of land amongst them), then the hereditary zamindars/taluqdars and feudal bureaucracy (jagirdars/mansabdars) both forming the intermediary strata with definite shares over the produce. And lastly, the imperial state with the largest share in the surplus.12 This variety of rights over land and its produce was interrupted with the imposition of private property with the Annexation of Awadh by the British in 1856. After the