Explain the role of village artisans in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries.
A large number of sculptors lived in the villages in the 16th and 17th centuries. From the Marathi documents and the British surveys, it is clear that in many villages, the sculptors amounted to 25% of the total population of the village. Sometimes it was difficult to distinguish between the sculptors and the farmers. It was so because there were many groups which performed both the functions. The farmers also did many other jobs like designing of cloth, pottery and repair and the making of agricultural instruments. Besides potters, iron-smiths, weavers and barbers also rendered their service to the village.They got either a piece of land or a part of the crop for the service rendered by them. In the 18th century, the zamindars, the iron-smiths, the weavers and the gold-smiths of Bengal used to get a daily allowance for food in respect of their services. It was called the Jajmani System.
