Contents: Foreword. Preface. Introduction. 1. Sources and Early Historiography. 2. Emergence of the Land Owning Class. 3. The Pattern of Land Distribution. 4. Agricultural Production and Surplus Extraction. 5. Agrarian Relations in Transition. 6. Conclusion. Appendices: 1. List of Principal Devaswams in Malabar. 2. Cherikkals Domain Lands of Zamorin. 3. Agricultural Implements Used in Malabar During the 18th Century. Glossary. Select Bibliography. Index.
 
To understand how colonialism redraws the equations of the colonized societies a thorough analysis of the latter in the immediate preceeded period is required. There are few attempts on that line elsewhere in india but Malabar remained excluded.

The present study is an attempt to analyse theoretically and empirically the agrarian relations in Malabar during the late medieval period.