Preliminary Programme

Between the Ottoman conquest of Buda (1541) and the end of the Long Turkish War (1591-1606) Transylvania underwent a complex process of transition from a province within the Hungarian Kingdom to a distinct and autonomous state. Frontier defence was one of the most pressing issues for the emerging state, one that required innovations but also the adaptation of medieval traditions. The conscription of peasant-soldiers, a military practice inherited from previous centuries, was one of the solutions implemented by Transylvanian rulers. The aim of this presentation is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the recruitment and mobilisation process of peasant militias in the Transylvanian Principality between 1541 and 1606. My analysis will focus mainly on military legislation (regulations issued by the Diet/Estates Assemblies) and fiscal conscriptions in an attempt to reconstruct the social mechanism behind the recruitment of peasant-soldiers. In addition, these sources also provide details on the social and economic impact of military conscription on rural communities. (Show less)

Traditional Croatian historiography argued that classification of social strata in late medieval and early modern era mostly depended on legal position of an individual. In early Middle Ages, peasants’ legal status, as an individual producer, presumed significant freedoms. During the subsequent centuries, these freedoms became significantly reduced. The presentation will show what can primary historical sources tell us about the changes to the level of freedom among peasants between the 13th and 16th centuries. Contrary to older Marxist historiography, reduction of freedom among peasants was not a linear process, but much more complex. Better understanding of the concept of coercion has led us away from the issue of “labor dualism”, and micro-historical data offers new proof in the same direction, as well as a chance to improve our terminology when describing these processes. In conclusion, the author will present his work on primary sources and compare his conclusions to other similar data drawn from analysis of primary sources in the region between the Adriatic, Danube and the Alps. (Show less)

In the independent Poland the relations between lords of the manors and villagers had a typically feudal character. Noblemen-landowners kept dominium directum while peasants had dominium utile.
The fall of the Polish state didn’t cause any serious changes in the Polish countryside. First reforms ordered from the courts in Berlin and Vienna were cautious and the only significant provision was the prohibition of evicting peasants . The changes in the Russian partition were even less meaningful.
In the western lands of the former Commonwealth some important changes took place after Napoleon established the Duchy of Warsaw. According to the constitution, the Napoleonic Code would be introduced to this French-depended country. There was no distinction between dominium directum and dominium utile in that code. There was only a capitalistic, undivided concept of ownership. It was not obvious who would be treated as the owners of fields cultivated by peasants: landlords or villagers
In my paper I will present some problems connected with implementation of the capitalistic French law in Polish countryside. The Napoleonic Code did not regulate many feudal obligations of landlords towards peasants (e.g. supporting them with wood for construction or in a case of crop failure) and peasants’ duties in favor of landowners (e.g. compulsory labour service). However, many old customs were still in force. I will try to describe that complicated situation. (Show less)

Sikkim, is a tiny Himalayan Kingdom situated in the north-eastern range of the Himalayas in the Indian subcontinent. Sikkim is a land-locked country with Nepal in the west, Tibet/China in the north and Bhutan in the east. The land in the olden days was popularly known as the " Rice Valley". Thus agriculture has always been an important source of livelihood to the people. It has an ethnically diverse population, with Nepalese being the majority and Bhutias and Lepchas both belonging to the tribal category. Lepchas along with the Limboos are known to be the original inhabitants of the region. Land is an important means of production in an agrarian society. In Sikkim around 70% of the population still depends on agriculture. (Census of India, 2001) The land is such an important means of livelihood for the people since there was a common saying among the people in those days i.e; ‘padhi guni ke kam, halo joti khayo mam’ which means what is the use of reading and writing, when ultimately you have to plough the field. The aim of this research is to study the change in agrarian structure, land use and land reform policies undertaken by the state in post-colonial Sikkim. The period of study as mentioned in the title is from 1949 to 2016, it was the time when the newly independent state was involved in conducting land reform policies, after succumbing to the peasant resistance of the forties which finally led to the abolition of land lessee system in Sikkim in 1949. Another major step taken by the government was to remove the intermediaries and, in another reform of 1951, ‘Elakhas’ were disbanded which were under the ‘kazi’ feudal lords who were now transferred to salaried officials. The villages were divided into several Blocks under a State Administrative Officer. Until 1975, the state was under a hereditary monarchy. It was in the year 1975 Sikkim became the 22nd state of India , after its merger with the Indian Union by a majority consensus.The Indian Government has a major contribution for the development of the region. During the Planning Years and thereafter in the Economic Reforms era we see major Land Reforms and other developments in the region. The political developments indeed led to significant economic changes in the state, first and foremost being the abolition of Landlordism.
In this paper I will also be covering socio-cultural aspects along with the agrarian history , basically my intention is to study the rural socio-economic history of the region. Hence, i will be looking at both the economic and cultural dimensions of the agrarian society of Sikkim. (Show less)