Damara (feudal landlord)
Encyclopedia
A damara was a feudal landlord of ancient Kashmir
.
Kashmiri society was organised somewhat differently to other areas of India in which Hinduism flourished, this being due to the influence that Buddhism came to have from the time of the reign of Asoka around the third century BC. The more common social and economic demarcation lines of varna - a ritual ranking system comprising Brahmin
, Kshatriya
, Vaisya and Shudra
- became blurred, with the exception of that between the Brahmins and all other Hindus. Instead, it was occupation that formed the primary differentiator and of the occupations it was that of agriculture which was most important.
As landholders and agriculturalists, the damaras were the most important of the occupational classes and their power could be considerable. It was as a consequence of their many disputes with the kings of the Lohara dynasty
, during a prolonged period of corruption, internecine fighting and misrule, that the region eventually passed into control by Muslim rulers.
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
.
Kashmiri society was organised somewhat differently to other areas of India in which Hinduism flourished, this being due to the influence that Buddhism came to have from the time of the reign of Asoka around the third century BC. The more common social and economic demarcation lines of varna - a ritual ranking system comprising Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
, Kshatriya
Kshatriya
*For the Bollywood film of the same name see Kshatriya Kshatriya or Kashtriya, meaning warrior, is one of the four varnas in Hinduism...
, Vaisya and Shudra
Shudra
Shudra is the fourth Varna, as prescribed in the Purusha Sukta of the Rig veda, which constitutes society into four varnas or Chaturvarna. The other three varnas are Brahmans - priests, Kshatriya - those with governing functions, Vaishya - agriculturalists, cattle rearers and traders...
- became blurred, with the exception of that between the Brahmins and all other Hindus. Instead, it was occupation that formed the primary differentiator and of the occupations it was that of agriculture which was most important.
As landholders and agriculturalists, the damaras were the most important of the occupational classes and their power could be considerable. It was as a consequence of their many disputes with the kings of the Lohara dynasty
Lohara dynasty
The Lohara dynasty were Hindu rulers of Kashmir between 1003 and approximately 1320. The weak rule, internecine fighting and corruption endemic during this period, with only brief years of respite, gave rise to the growth of Islamic supremacy in the region...
, during a prolonged period of corruption, internecine fighting and misrule, that the region eventually passed into control by Muslim rulers.