Land Revenue Systems in British India: Zamindari, Ryotwari and Mahalwari
What were the differences among the major land revenue systems in British India ie Zamindari, Ryotwari and Mahalwari?
For UPSC, Land Revenue Systems in British India is always a hot topic for Prelims and Mains.
As per the new syllabus ‘land reforms in India’ is specifically mentioned for GS Mains, and the relevance just got multiplied.
Now let’s have a quick look at the different methods of land revenue collection systems that existed in India.
Tax from the land was a major source of revenue for the kings and emperors from ancient times. But the ownership pattern of land had witnessed changes over centuries.
During Kingship, the land was divided into Jagirs, Jagirs were alloted to Jagirdars, these Jagirdars split the land they got and allocated to sub-ordinate Zamindars.
Zamindars made peasants cultivate the land, in return collected part of their revenue as tax.......
Since the grant of diwani for Bengal, Bihar and Orissa in 1765, the major concern of the East India Company’s administration in India was to collect as much revenue as possible. Agriculture was the main basis of economy and the main source of income and hence, although the nawabi administration was retained with Muhammad Reza Khan acting as the Naib Diwan for the Company, several land revenue experiments were introduced in haste to maximise extraction.
In 1772, Warren hastings introduced a new system, known as the farming system. European District Collectors, as the nomenclature suggested, were to be in charge of revenue collection, while the revenue collecting right was farmed out to the highest bidders. About the periodicity of the settlements, a number of experiments were made.
But the farming system ultimately failed to improve the situation, as the farmers tried to extract as much as possible without any concern for the production process. The burden of revenue demand on th peasants increased as a result and often it was so onerous that it could not be collected at all. The net outcome of this whole period of rash experimentation was the ruination of the agricultural population. In 1784, Lord Cornwallis was therefore sent to India with a specific mandate to streamline the revenue administration.
Up to 1793 A.D., The East India Company continued to follow the revenue farming system in Bengal Presidency. In 1782, Sir John Shore Committee was appointed to draft a new land revenue policy. The policy was approved by Michael Dundas, The President of Board of Control and William Pete the P.M. of England.
Permanent Settlement
The Permanent Settlement or Zamindari Sysem was introduced by Lord Corniwallis in 1793. In Bengal, North Cauvery Delta in Madras Presidency and Varanasi division. It covered altogether 19% of the total cultivable land under company rule.
Terms and Conditions of the System
- Zamindars were recognized as owner of the lands. Zamindars were given the rights to collect the rent from the peasants.
- The realized amount would be divided into 11 parts. 1/11 of the share belongs to Zamindars and 10/11 of the share belongs to East India Company.
- The Zamindars were also given Judicial powers
- The Sunset Law come into force in the event of Zamindars becoming defaulters.
- The system was introduced for a period of 10 years.
Effect of the system
- The effects of this system both on the zamindars and ryots were disastrous. As the revenue fixed by the system was too high, many zamindars defaulted on payments. Their property was seized and distress sales were conducted leading to their ruin. The rich zamindars who led luxurious lives left their villages and migrated into towns. They entrusted their rent collection to agents who exacted all kinds of illegal taxes besides the legal ones from the ryots.
- This had resulted in a great deal of misery amongst the peasants and farmers. Therefore Lord Cornwallis’ idea of building a system of benevolent land-lordism failed. Though initially the Company gained financially, in the long run the Company suffered financial loss because land productivity was high, income from it was meagre since it was a fixed sum. It should be noted that in pre- British period a share on the crop was fixed as land tax.
Ryotwari Settlement
The Ryotwari experiment was started by Alexander Reed in Baramahal in 1792 and was continued by Thomas Munro from 1801 when he was asked to take charge of the revenue administration of the Ceded Districts. Instead of zamindars they began to collect revenue directly from the village , fixing the amount each village had to pay. After this they proceeded to assess each cultivator or ryot separately and thus evolved the Ryotwari System. It created individual proprietary right in land, but it was vested in the peasants, rather than in the zamindars.
Effects of System
- It raised the revenue income of the government, but put the cultivators in great distress.
- In many areas no surveys were carried out and the tax of a ryot was assessed on an arbitrary basis, based on village accounts.
- The cultivating peasants were, therefore, gradually impoverished, and increasingly indebted and could not invest for the extension of cultivation.
- The Ryorwari system did not also eliminate village elites as inter mediaries between the government and the peasantry. As privileged rents and special rights of the mirasidars were recognised and caste privileges of the Brahmans respected.
Mahalwari System
Mahalwari system was introduced in 1833 during the period of William Bentick. It was introduced in Central Province, North-West Frontier, Agra, Punjab, Gangetic Valley, etc of British India.The Mahalwari system had many provisions of both the Zamindari System and Ryotwari System. In this system, the land was divided into Mahals. Each Mahal comprises one or more villages. Ownership rights were vested with the peasants. The villages committee was held responsible for collection of the taxes.
Effects of the Land Revenue Policy
- Land become a Commodity for the first time in Indian history
- Property rights in the land created for first time
- New rural classes were formed- The absentee landlords, money lenders and age earning working class.
- Commercialisation of agriculture encouraged. As a result , shortage of food crops took place causing famines. The 1832 Ganjan famine(Orissa) and 1875 deccan famine were the worst famines.
- The revenue policy was the single most important cause for all the major civilian rebellions in modern India, against the British.
Why are Zamindari, Ryotwari and Mahalwari systems significant?
These systems are essential to know because land revenue systems were a significant source of income for the British government in India. These systems help us understand the power dynamics of the era and how it led to the much-highlighted land reforms post-Independence.
This is why land revenue systems in British India is a hot topic for Prelims and Mains. Land reforms in India have also been mentioned in the new CSE syllabus, which makes understanding land revenue systems all the more crucial.
Major Land Revenue Systems That Existed Before British Rule
Land ownership has always been a massive point of contention for those in power. Land ownership pattern has witnessed a lot of changes over centuries. The tax levied from the land was a significant source of income for rulers and emperors in ancient and medieval times.
Here was the hierarchy prevalent during those times. The King was the owner of all land. Beneath him, the land was divided into Jagirs, and each Jagir was allocated to Jagirdars who managed these lands.
These Jagirdars split the land they got into multiple sub-parts, and each sub-part was given to a Zamindar. These Zamindars were the lowest line of owners in the hierarchy. They gave the land to the peasants to cultivate the land, and in return, they collected part of the revenue generated as tax.
This was the pattern of land ownership followed before the British landed in India. Let us now look at how the ownership pattern of land changed after the British landed in the country.
Land Revenue Systems Existing in British India
During the British reign, three major systems of land revenue collection existed in India. They were known as Zamindari, Ryotwari and Mahalwari.
Let us now look at each of these systems in detail.
Zamindari System
The Zamindari System was also known as the Permanent Settlement System. This was because Zamindars were given hereditary rights of succession of the lands under them. They were free to sell or transfer the land as they wished. Their ownership and proprietary rights existed as long as they paid a fixed revenue to the government every month.
Lord Cornwallis introduced the Zamindari system in 1793 through the Permanent Settlement Act in the provinces of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa and Varanasi. Under this system, the Zamindars were given rights to the land and allowed to collect rent from the peasants, thereby becoming the owners of the land while the peasants became the tenants.
The rules about paying rent for farming on the land were very strict. Peasants had to pay their rent even if the yield was poor, and they had to pay it only in cash. This caused the peasants a huge problem. Before the system was introduced, peasants could pay the rent in kind.
From the total rent amount collected, a majority share would be taken by the East India Company (around 9/10), and the rest (1/10) would belong to the Zamindar who collected the rent.
That’s everything you need to know about the Zamindari System. Next, let us go through the Ryotwari System.
Ryotwari System
In the Ryotwari system, the rules were slightly different but not in any way that benefited the farmers who cultivated the land.
Thomas Munro introduced the Ryotwari system in 1820. It was the primary system for revenue collection in South India, including areas like Madras, Bombay, parts of Assam and Coorg provinces of India.
In this system, the ownership rights to the cultivated land remained with the peasants and the British government officers collected rent directly from the peasants.
However, this did not mean peasants enjoyed better financial status under Ryotwari. Although the ownership of land was with the farmers, excessive tax imposed on the land diminished their earning power to a great extent.
Moreover, the tax rates were frequently revised and increased, making the financial burden heavier on the poor peasants.
After Ryotwari, let's look at the Mahalwari system of land revenue.
Mahalwari System
Holt Mackenzie introduced the Mahalwari system in 1822, and William Bentick reformed the system in 1883.
Mahalwari consisted of provisions from both the Zamindari and the Ryotwari systems. It was the primary land revenue system in North-West India. It included the regions of Central Province, North-West Frontier, Agra, Punjab and the Gangetic Valley, among other regions of British India.
Under the Mahalwari system, the land was divided into ‘Mahals’, and each Mahal would consist of a few villages. Here, instead of individual villages, the entire Mahal was considered as a single unit for tax collection.
The village headman or the village committee took the responsibility of collecting all the taxes and handing them over to the British. The taxes levied in this system were equally high and imposing.
What Were The Problems Caused By The British Land Revenue Policies?
The monstrous land revenue policies implemented by the British adversely affected the agricultural sector.
The farmers had to take a loan from the money lenders every time they could not pay the tax before the deadline. The loan from the money lenders came at a high-interest rate, and since these farmers had nothing else in their possession, they had to put their land on a mortgage.
In case a farmer could not pay back the loan with interest, the moneylenders seized his agricultural land.
Land Reforms Introduced After Independence
The Zamindari Abolition Act was passed by the states of UP, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh, among others. The surplus land was confiscated from Zamindars, and the Land Ceiling Act was passed in different parts of the country.
Putting a ceiling on the amount of land and its redistribution was most successful in Kerala and West Bengal. In other states, only certain pockets in different states saw some success in land redistribution.
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