Resistance, banditry and rural crime: aspects of the feudal paradigm in north India under colonial rule, c. 1800-1840

Abstract

This   paper explores political and ideological aspects of the feudal paradigm in an   Indian context. The historical setting is north India during the first four   decades of the nineteenth century. These were the first four decades of   direct colonial rule in this western part of Bengal Presidency: large scale   warfare against the East India Company's forces gave way to rural crime and   conflict at the local level; the government of the Company sought to assert   its control, and the Company's commercial and revenue policies increasingly   affected rural society.