Paik system

The Paik system was a type of corvee labor system on which the Ahom kingdom of medieval Assam was based. The origin of the word paik is a Prakrit word derived from Sanskrit 'padātika', meaning foot soldier and it is believed that the system is based on the South-East Asian legacy the Ahoms brought with them in 1228. The mature structure was designed by Momai Tamuli Borbarua in 1609. The system continued to evolve over time to meet the needs of the Ahom state and in time began to accumulate contradictions. Scholars believe that a major reason for the collapse of the Ahom kingdom was that the Paik system had outlived itself by the 18th century

Every male in the Ahom kingdom between the ages of fifteen and fifty who was not a noble, a priest, a high caste or a slave was a paik.Thepaiks were organized into four member groups each called a 'got'. Each got sent one member by rotation for public works like building roads ,etc. . The others took care of his land during his absence. More members were called up at wartime. All lands under rice cultivation belonged to the state. In the 17th century the paiks were grouped into divisions called khels. According to Guha (1991), about 90% of the population belonged to this class at the time of Rudra Singha, around 1714. The top landed aristocracy was about 1% and the rest constituted the servile class.

The duty of a paik was to render service to the Ahom state in exchange for which he was granted 2 puras (2.66 acres) of cultivable land (gaa mati), which was neither hereditary nor transferable. In addition he could maintain his tax-free ancestral homestead and garden (basti and bari respectively). The nobility maintained personal estates called khats.

Cultivable land called roopeet was held communally that was distributed among the paiks (called gaa mati). Wastelands reclaimed by paiks or non-paiks not covered by a royal grant are subject to inclusion in the roopeet category to be distributed as gaa mati in the next paik survey. Surplus cultivable land was distributed as ubar mati among the paiks.

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