SOCIAL SCIENTIST stage. The real process of transition to capitalism was triggered by British economic policy in India in the second half of the nineteenth In late feudal India, that is in the 18th—early 19th century, village communities continued to be the basic framework of the socio-economic organisation of the society. Rural population consisted of four major strata, economically and socially stratified.1 The upper layer of agricultural population was formed by full-fledged community members having land ownership rights.2 They were individually and/or collectively responsible for the payments of land revenue, that is rent-tax, to the collective feudal—the state. Lands in their posession were alienable and transferable. This group was far from being a homogeneous one. The smaller part of these village zamindars (or mirasdars, kaniyatchinars, jotedars etc.) formed the feudalised upper crust of village community. Their sir (or khudkasht etc.) lands were either rented out or tilled by landless labourers. As a rule they were functioning as the collectors of land revenue and other levies from a village community (or part of it) or in some cases from more than one village community. Thus they formed the lowest strata of the feudal class. But at the same time they belonged to the lower estate: rent-paying raiyats. Though in practice their sir land were in toto or partially exempted from revenue taxation—(inam lands) as a remuneration for their functioning as tax-collectors. The existence of this socio-class group having double face of landlords and peasants made an important peculiarity of feudal order in India. The full-fledged members of the community, raiyats belonged to so-called 'agriculturist dominant castes' of high status in caste hierarchy: Rajputs, Thakurs, Jats, Ahirs, Kunbis, Patils, Marathas, Patidars, Bhumidhars, Okkaligas, Kammas, Reddis, Vellalas, Nayars, Sadgops etc. In some regions land in village communities could also be owned (individually or more often collectively) by Brahmin castes, like in agraharams in Tamilnadu. The next layer of village community's agricultural population consisted of landless tenants who rented in lands owned either by feudalised group of full-fledged members of the community or belonging to the community as a whole. In many cases they had status of permanent lessees and paid in addition to rent to land-owners (malikana, swamibhogam etc.) land revenue due from lands in their possession. These tenancy relations are to be distinguished from leasing in and out lands among raiyats—members of the community. These tenants (pahikasht rayats, pahikaris, upriis etc.) as a rule belonged to intermediate and low castes, and in some areas to untouchables.