Mapping Love for Land among Punjabi Peasants in the Colonial Era: A study of Sant Singh Sekhon’s Blood and Soil (1949)

Abstract

For Punjabi peasants, land determines socio-cultural and economic status, providing a level of financial security. It determines the magnitude of a family legacy. Thus, land has been more than a simple asset or source of livelihood for Punjabi peasants during the Colonial Era. For the Indian peasant, the land is the underpinning of the quality of life; all social and economic concerns as well as the individual’s stature in public life ultimately revolve around land tenure. Ian Talbot writes particularly about the sentiments of colonial Punjabi peasantry when he observes, "Colonial Punjab had a rural society and an economy based on agriculture as around two thirds of the total population was dependent on agriculture for its livelihood" (p. 6). The present paper is an attempt to trace the Punjabi peasants’ attachment and love for their land during the colonial period with particular reference to Sant Singh Sekhon’s Blood and Soil (Lahu Mitti).