India is primarily an agricultural country, where the land plays a role in determining the agricultural relationships.
Agrarian land relations in India can be divided into the following relationships :
Land owners (zamindars): They are the tax gatherers and non-cultivating owners of the land. They mostly belong to upper caste groups.
The tenants: They hire land from others for cultivation and give rent for it.
The agricultural labourers: Their position is that of bondsmen and hereditarily attached labourers. They generally belong to lower caste groups. However, due to the impact of land reform movements and rural development pro-grammes following independence, these rigid relationships have attained somewhat flexibility.
