Rental feudalism is an agrarian system, in which the large landlords dominate the small landowners and dependent farmers by way of high rents and forced labor. Rental feudalism is existent in Mediterranean countries, Latin America and major parts of Asia.
Rental Feudalism: A discussion
In the event when large landlords own and manipulate major portions of the lands, rental feudalism come into existence. For the purpose of cultivation, the landowners generally divide the whole land into small segments and the sharecroppers cultivate those portions of land .
The cultivators necessarily agree upon the tenure of holding the land while signing the contract. In case of sharecropping, the overall end products are shared between the landholders and cultivators.
Rental Feudalism: Impact
The small and marginal farmers are always under the debt burden due to the rent that has to paid on a mandatory basis to the large landlords. The landlords take the advantage of this situation and accordingly try to attain higher incomes by means of high rents. This way, the rental feudalism helps the landlords to acquire more power, prestige and dominance over the tenants and farmers of the land. This precarious condition impels the farmers to be loyal to their landlords.
Green revolution: Impact on Feudalism
Due to the arrival of green revolution, the rental feudalism started disintegrating and eventually the tenants began to cultivate the land on their own and eventually the agrarian system became more stable.