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Land Revenue Systems in British India

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Land revenue is one of the most important sources of income for the Britishers in India. There existed three types of land revenue policies during the British rule period in India. There existed three major types of land tenure systems which were present in India, namely:

  1. The Zamindari System
  2. The Mahalwari System
  3. The Ryotwari System
Land Revenue System

Land Revenue System

Land Revenue Systems in British India

In the pre-colonial period, the Indian economy was predominantly agrarian and the primary occupation of the people was agriculture. The British conquerors tried to derive the maximum economic advantage and therefore had to rely on land revenue as the principal source of income for the state. After the Battle of Plassey, the British secured the right to collect revenue from the province of Bengal.

The first land income settlement was introduced by Warren Hastings, assuming that all land belonged to the sovereign. The changes introduced by him include:

  • Auctioning the land to the highest bidder.
  • Old zamindars /families were thrown away, and the annual settlement was changed to quinquennial (five-yearly) and back to normal again.

The early administrators of EIC acted on the principle that the company was entitled to the entire economic rent leaving merely the expenses of cultivation and wages to the cultivators, which resulted in the decline of agriculture. Large areas went out of cultivation, and famines occurred frequently. The excessive demand for income from land has been shown to be counterproductive. This adverse situation forced the policy framers to experiment with land tenure in India.

The Zamindari System

The Zamindari system was introduced for the first time by Lord Cornwallis in the year 1793 through the Permanent Settlement which fixed the land rights for the members who were in perpetuity without any provisions for fixed rent or for any right of occupancy for the actual cultivators.

In the zamindari system, the land revenue came to be collected by the farmers by the intermediaries who were known as the zamindars. The total share of the government in case of the revenue which was collected by zamindars was 10/11th and the remainder of the same goes to the zamindars. The Zamindari system came to be most prevalent in West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Madhya Pradesh.

Zamindari System

Zamindari Systems

The Permanent Settlement Agreement

The Permanent Land revenue settlement of the zamindars was recognized to be the permanent owners of land and was given an instruction to pay about 89 percent of the annual revenue to the state and also permitted for enjoying 11 percent of revenue as part of their share. The Zamindars also had the upper hand to be independent in case of internal affairs in case of their respective domains.

Features of the Zamindari system

  • Zamindars were recognized as the hereditary owner of the land and received the right of inheritance.
  • Landlords can sell or transfer the land as per their wishes.
  • The landlord’s property remains as long as it pays a certain income to the government on the specified day. If they don’t pay, their rights will be extinguished, and the land will be auctioned.
  • The amount to be paid to the landlords was a fixed amount. It was decided that it would not increase in the future (forever).
  • The fixed amount was 10/11 of revenue to the Britishers and 1/11 of revenue to Zamindar. This tax rate was much higher than in England.
  • The zamindar also had to give the tenant a patent describing the land given to him and the rent that the zamindar had to pay.
  • The responsibility of looking after the peasants fell on the shoulders of the Indian landlords.

Because of the permanent nature of the arrangement, everyone had a sense of security. The company knew how much profit it was making. The owner was also assured of the amount. After all, the farmers also relied on their property instead of a hoof and knew how much rent they would pay.

Issues with the Zamindari System

  1. For the Cultivators: In the villages, cultivators had found the system to be exploitative as well as repressive as the rent which they paid to the zamindars was very high while their rights on the land were quite less. The cultivators had to take loans for paying the rent, or on failing to pay the rent, they were evicted from their plots of land.
  2. For the Zamindars: The Zamindars found it difficult to pay as the revenue was set so high and on non-payment, they would lose their zamindari. The zamindars were hence not very keen on improving the land.
  3. For the Company: From the first decade of the 19th century, cultivation has slowly increased and the prices have also risen in the market. However, this was no gain for the company as it couldn’t increase the revenue demands which had been settled permanently.

The Ryotwari System

The Ryotwari System was introduced by Thomas Munro in May 1820. This system was confined to most of southern India, first introduced in Tamil Nadu, then the areas of Bombay, Madras, some parts of east Punjab, Coorg Province, and Assam. Under this land revenue system, the Ryots (peasants) received the land rights of the land, and they were individually responsible for the payment of land revenue to the states. The advantage of this system was the elimination of middlemen, who often oppressed the villagers.

Features of the Ryotwari System

  • Land revenue was paid by the farmers directly to the state, that’s why this system helped to eliminate the middlemen, who often oppressed villagers.
  • As long as peasants paid the tax for the land, the peasants could not be evicted from their land.
  • The Assessment of the individual cultivators, measurement of fields, and estimate of produce.
  • In this land revenue system, the Government rates were fixed; for wetland and dryland, the rates were 60% and 50%, respectively.

Issues with the Ryotwari System

  • Excessive rate of revenue due to which agriculture had become unremunerative.
  • The method of collection was harsh.
  • He revolutionized the relationship between creditors and debtors, creating a class of usurers.
  • The interest rate was high, and the cultivator could only pay the interest.
  • The value of the landed property declined.
  • The measurement was incorrect, and the production estimate was faulty.
  • There was no appeal to the courts against the overvaluation.

The Mahalwari System

The Mahalwari system was introduced by Holt Mackenzie in the year 1822, and this system was modified by Lord William Bentinck in 1833. This version of settlement was introduced into the Ganges Valley, the North-Western Provinces, parts of central India, and Punjab. Under the Mahalwari System, the land revenue had been collected from the farmers by the village headmen on behalf of the whole village.

The entire village was grouped into “Mahal” and came to be treated as one unit for payment of the land revenue. The revenue under Mahalwari System was revised periodically and was not fixed on a permanent basis.

Features of the Mahalwari System

  • In this land revenue system, the basis of assessment was the produce of a mahal, and all the proprietors of a mahal were jointly responsible for the management and payment of the revenues; sometimes, this Mahal was constituted by one or more villages. 
  • This was a two-fold settlement. The occupancy and ownership rights were reserved for the individual peasants, and the cultivation was done individually. 
  • They were required to pay the land revenue through the village headman or village leaders collectively. The cultivation was carried on individually, but the land revenue was paid collectively.
  • The state reserved the right to direct management of the agricultural economy by introducing the concept of average rents for different soil classes.
  • In this system, the Government’s revenue rate was fixed i.e., 66%, and the agreement of this settlement was done for up to 30 years.

Issue with the Mahalwari System

  • In actual practice, rights were given to certain leading groups of prominent families.
  • The peasants, in general, were driven to the position of tenants, co-workers, etc.
  • The economic and social inequalities increased, and the peasants were overburdened.
  • There was no progress in the field of productivity.

Some Other Systems

Some other important land revenue systems are:

Taluqdari System

In the taluqdari system, the term “taluqdar” has certain different meanings in different parts of India. In the case of Oudh, the taluqdars were considered to be great landholders. The big zamindars came to create many taluqs under several denominations, such as the junglburi taluq, shikimi, and so forth. These were created as a strategy by the zamindars and also as a fiscal policy for raising zamindari funds for different purposes.

Malguzari System

The land revenue system which prevailed in the Central Provinces was known as the Malguzari system, in which Malguzars were merely revenue farmers working under the Marathas. During the British period, the malguzars were given property rights and were also responsible for the payment of revenue.

Impact of Land Revenue Systems

Due to the fact that the Revenue demand was so high and stringent, it caused economic hardship for cultivators and increased the poverty that was already present, which is an example of the government exploiting the situation.

  1. The land settlements were responsible for the implementation of a market economy and the elimination of customary rights.
  2. The receipt of revenue in the form of cash fostered the practice of money lending.
  3. Lenders of money enjoyed the assistance of officials and were shielded from legal repercussions by British control and the legal system. They demanded an outrageous rate of interest, which equates to exploitation on the part of moneylenders.
  4. It accentuated the preexisting economic disparities and social distinctions. The courts were available to rich people so that they could protect their property. On the other hand, the impoverished scarcely had any kind of recourse mechanism.

In addition to these three primary land revenue sources, there were also a number of other land revenue systems in place. A couple of instances of this would be the Taluqdari System and the Malguari System. In each of these many systems, there were those who hoped that the farmers and peasants would benefit from it, but this never ended up being the case. They were forced to escape since they had no other choice when the demand for earnings increased to a higher level.

Since the British wanted to ensure that farmers would not benefit from technological advancements, they instituted a new system of private land ownership. The land was made able to be sold, mortgaged, and transferred in order to safeguard the revenue stream of the government. The land was turned into a commodity by the British.

Conclusion

The optimistic officials had imagined a new system that would transform the peasants into rich farmers, but that was not possible. With the ardent desire for increasing the income from the lands, the revenue officials had fixed a very high revenue for the demand of peasants who were unable to pay and as a result, the ryots had fled the villages to deserted areas.

Related Links

  1. Land Reforms in India
  2. Describe the main features of Permanent Settlement
  3. Problems from Permanent Settlement

FAQs on Land Revenue Systems in British India

Q1. What were the various types of land revenue systems in colonial India?

Answer-

The various types of land revenue systems in colonial India include The Zamindari, the Ryotwari and the Mahalwari System.

Q2. Who introduced the land revenue system in India?

Answer-

The land revenue system in India was introduced by Sir Thomas Munro in 1820, who introduced the system of land tax.

Q3. What were the effects of the land revenue system in India during the colonial period?

Answer-

The land revenue system has placed a lot of burden on the zamindars, which came to borne by the peasants ultimately and the tenants of Bengal and Bihar were left in mercy of zamindars and there was development in the system of absentee landlordism.



Last Updated : 05 May, 2023
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