Land, Labour, and Loyalty: A Comparative Study of the Meitei Lallup and Tai Sakdina Systems within the Framework of Asian Feudalism

Abstract

Feudalism has long been a subject of comparative historical inquiry, with scholars debating its applicability beyond Europe. This study examines two distinct Asian models the Meitei Lallup system of Manipur and the Tai Sakdina system of Thailand to explore how feudal institutions evolved as adaptive responses to agrarian economies, military needs, and political centralisation. Drawing on chronicles, legal codes, and secondary scholarship, the research employs a historical-comparative framework informed by the theoretical perspectives of Bloch, Duby, Sharma, and Kosambi. The findings reveal that while both systems shared core features of feudalism surplus extraction, hereditary privileges, service obligations, and the integration of religion into governance they differed in their structural emphasis. The Tai Sakdina system was bureaucratically rigid, with graded land allotments tied to rice-field units that determined social rank and corvée duties, reinforcing elite dominance. In contrast, the Meitei Lallup system was more service-oriented, relying on rotational labour contributions alongside taxation, creating a relatively flexible model of authority. Both systems centralised power by binding society into reciprocal networks of duty, yet each reflected unique cultural and political contexts. The study concludes that Asian feudal formations paralleled European models in function but not in form, demonstrating the need for region-specific analyses. By situating the Meitei and Tai systems within global debates, this research underscores the versatility of feudalism as a conceptual framework while highlighting its adaptive transformations in early Asian polities.