The landlord class and the process of developing the mekong delta under the Nguyễn lords (seventeenth - eighteenth centuries)

Abstract

This article analyzes the role of the landlord class in the process of reclaiming and developing the Mekong Delta under the Nguyễn Lords during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Drawing on historical sources, the study clarifies the formation of this social stratum in connection with the southward expansion (Nam tiến) and the migration and land reclamation policies implemented by the Nguyễn Lord government. Unlike landlords in northern and central Vietnam, landlords in the Mekong Delta were primarily derived from migrants, merchants, and Chinese settlers, who played a pioneering role in land reclamation and community organization. Through the accumulation of landholdings and the mobilization of labor, they contributed to the expansion of cultivation, the development of hydraulic works, and the promotion of commodity agriculture, particularly rice production, while also stimulating trade and the emergence of economic centers such as Mỹ Tho, Hà Tiên, and Gia Định. Beyond the economic sphere, this social group also participated in social organization and supported administrative governance. The article thereby affirms the important role of the landlord class in transforming the Mekong Delta into a dynamic socio-economic region.