Zamindar - Economy and Social Organization

Social status ranges greatly according to the amount of land owned by any given Zamindar man. He is variously identified as a generous, authoritarian, logical, and friendly person, along with his patrilineage. A Zamindar man's chief concern is for his land and its productivity. He depends greatly on other people for their labor, especially on the artisans, Because they make the tools needed for his land. The largest lands belong to the most powerful and influential Zamindars. They spend, entertain, and associate with prominent people on occasions such as marriage, circumcision, and harvesting. Each such occasion can increase their status, honor, and prestige. The call by a Zamindar to mang (collective labor) is a test of people's loyalty. The main social effect of mang is the reinforcement of relations between the Zamindar and the community.

Zamindars are adopting new cultural changes and improvements. They are willing to go to the cities to learn new ways and introduce them to their village. New equipment for the cultivation of land is being bought, water glasses are now preferred, and tea sets are becoming fashionable. They are moving toward renewing business and raising the standard of living. At the same time, legal ceilings on landholdings in most states have been make it increasingly difficult in recent decades for the Zamindars to hold onto large tracts of land. Nevertheless, they try to do so, often by registering ownership of various plots of land in the names of different family Members, whether male or female. Whatever they do, they never leave the village life behind and cannot be uprooted from it.