”Bernier’s description of imperial land-ownership influenced western theorists like French Philosopher Montesquieu and German Karl Marx.” Justify it with suitable arguments.
Bernier’s descriptions influenced Western theorists from the eighteenth century onwards.
(i) The French philosopher Montesquieu, for instance, used this account to develop the idea of oriental despotism, according to which rulers in Asia (the Orient or the East) enjoyed absolute authority over their subjects.
(ii) They were kept in conditions of subjugation and poverty, arguing that all land belonged to the king and that private property was non-existent.
(iii) This idea was further developed as the concept of the Asiatic mode of production by Karl Marx in the nineteenth century.
(iv) He argued that in India (and other Asian countries), before colonialism, surplus was appropriated by the state.
(v) This led to the emergence of a society that was composed of a large number of autonomous and (internally) egalitarian village communities.
