{{Short description|Custom of servitude imposed upon people in India}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} '''Veth''' (or ''Vethi'' or ''Vetti-chakiri'', from Sanskrit ''visti''), also known as '''begar''' (from Persian), was a system of forced labour practised in India, in which members of populace were compelled to perform corvee labour for the government.<ref name="PA_Gavali_1988"/><ref name="Ghanshyam_2004"/>
In the Maratha Confederacy, Veth-begar was practised on a wide scale during the Peshwa regime. Certain groups of people, such as Brahmins (priests), Kayasthas (scribes), Marathas, and Kasars (coppersmiths) of Saswad region, were exempted from veth-begar.<ref name="PA_Gavali_1988">{{cite book |author=P. A. Gavali |title=Society and Social Disabilities Under the Peshwas |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AjgdAAAAIAAJ |year=1988 |publisher=National Publishing House |isbn=978-81-214-0157-9 |page=136 }}</ref>
The system continued to be practised in the princely states during the British Raj.<ref name="Harshad_1993">{{cite book |author=Harshad R. Trivedi |title=Tribal Land Systems: Land Reform Measures and Development of Tribals |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wXh-ohgvf2UC&pg=PA312 |year=1993 |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |isbn=978-81-7022-454-9 |page=312 }}</ref> For example, in the Mewer State, peasants (including those from the upper-caste) were forced to engage in ''begar''. As part of ''veth'', the peasants and low-caste people were forced to supply water to the ruler's family; construct buildings, roads, and dams; and carry dead and wounded soldiers.<ref name="Ghanshyam_2004">{{cite book |author=Ghanshyam Shah |title=Social Movements in India: A Review of Literature |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8LOICwAAQBAJ&pg=PT52 |year=2004 |publisher=SAGE Publications |isbn=978-81-321-1977-7 |pages=52–}}</ref> The British government exempted Christians from veth-begar.<ref name="Baviskar2004">{{cite book |author=Amita Baviskar |title=In the Belly of the River: Tribal Conflicts Over Development in the Narmada Valley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_bq0AAAAIAAJ |year=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-567136-0 |page=79 }}</ref>
== See also == * Jajmani system
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Economy of British India Category:Debt bondage in India
{{India-hist-stub}}