Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
The "Asiatic Mode of Production" (AMP) is a specific socio-economic theory formulated by Karl Marx in the mid-19th century.
It was developed to explain what Marx perceived as a unique developmental path for non-Western, particularly Asian, societies like India and China.
The core of this theory is the idea that these societies lacked private property in land, with the state or the sovereign acting as the ultimate owner.
This structure, according to Marx, led to the emergence of self-sufficient, stagnant village communities that provided surplus to a centralized, despotic state.
The state’s primary role was the management of public works, especially large-scale irrigation systems, which Marx termed "Hydraulic Despotism."
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
Karl Marx introduced the concept of the Asiatic Mode of Production primarily in his articles for the New York Daily Tribune and his major work, "Grundrisse."
He argued that while Europe progressed through stages of slavery, feudalism, and capitalism, Asian societies remained in a state of "oriental stagnation."
In the context of Indian history, Marx observed that the village community was a "solid foundation for Oriental Despotism" because it was self-contained and disconnected from the political shifts at the center.
The absence of private property meant that there was no class of landed nobility equivalent to European feudal lords, resulting in a direct relationship between the state and the peasantry.
Historically, this concept has been a point of intense debate among Indian Marxist historians.
D.D. Kosambi (Option A), while a Marxist, largely rejected the rigid application of the AMP to India. He instead proposed "Feudalism from Above" and "Feudalism from Below," arguing that India did have feudal characteristics, though different from Europe.
R.S. Sharma (Option B) spent much of his career arguing for the existence of "Indian Feudalism," specifically between 300 CE and 1200 CE, which directly contradicts the AMP theory of a stagnant, non-feudal society.
Romila Thapar (Option D) has critically evaluated these models, noting that the AMP relies on an idealized and somewhat colonial view of the "unchanging" East.
Therefore, the person fundamentally associated with proposing this framework is Karl Marx himself.
Step 3: Final Answer:
The theory of the Asiatic Mode of Production was a Marxist attempt to categorize Asian historical development as distinct from European stages, emphasizing state-owned land and self-sufficient villages.
Thus, option (C) is the correct answer.