Sasan

Sasan (Dingal for 'self-ruled'; IAST: Sāṃsaṇa) was a tax-free land grant given in the form of either partial or whole villages to the Rajpurohit and Charanas by rulers in medieval India. These grants were given in perpetuity and enjoyed superior rights compared to other land tenures. History The concept of Sasan refers to villages given to rajpurohit as a reward by the state, exempt from revenue obligations. Rajpurohit and charanas as a people commanded great respectability and influence in Rajputana, given high positions and honors in the royal courts and being considered a form of landed nobility. They were granted permanent tax-free land and enjoyed hereditary jagir, or sasan rights. These jagirs were granted to Rajpurohit and Charanas in recognition of their commendable services in administration, historiography, military, and literary merit. They were responsible for preserving socially authenticated memory and were supported accordingly. British accounts listed them among the "leading men of the [Rajput] State". They were held in high esteem and treated as sacrosanct and inviolable, being referred to as the Devīputra and classed together with "the cow and the Brahman". The Charanas had a close relationship with the rulers and acted as mediators in political affairs. They were also responsible for writing the histories of royal and cadet lines, affirming the status of the Rajput ruler by celebrating his valor and rank among his clan and other Charanas. They were rewarded with gifts of wealth, cattle, and revenue-free land grants called sasan grants, among other ceremonial gifts. These grants were in the form of land free of obligations, and grant holders were entitled to collect land revenue and other cesses in their territories. The British agent Archibald Adams, in his history of Rajputana states, noted that the Charanas were "a sacred race, holding large religious grants of land". In the kingdom of Marwar, circa 1880, the Rajpurohits and Charanas controlled over 800 tax-free estates, estimated to be worth over 800,000 rupees in total revenue assessment.