Ryotwari and Mahalwari Settlements
Ryotwari and Mahalwari,
Realizing
the disadvantages of the Permanent Settlement is also due to administrative
difficulties the East India Company introduced settlement in other parts of
India which were quite different from the line adopted in Bengal, Bihar and
Orissa. In the Deccan, for example, new land settlement was introduced which
came to be known as the Ryotwari Settlement. In some parts of northern India
yet another type of settlement called Mahalwari System was introduced by the
Company.
Ryotwari
Settlement Feature:
The
Ryotwari Settlement was initiated by Thomas Munro, the Governor of the Madras
Presidency. The settlement was introduced in the early nineteenth century in
parts of South India. There was much difference between the Permanent
Settlement and the Ryotwari Settlement. The salient features of the Ryotwari
Settlement were as follows.
1 Under
the Ryotwari system the Company settled the revenue directly with the ryots or
cultivators. In the Permanent Settlement the arrangement was made with the
zamindars.
2 The
amount of revenue was assessed on the basis of the productivity of the soil and
the nature of the crops produced. In the Permanent Settlement these factors
were not taken into consideration at the time of revenue assessment.
3 In the
Ryotwari system the amount of revenue was not fixed for ever as was the case with
the Permanent Settlement. In Ryotwari system the revenue assessment was revised
regularly after 20 or 30 years.
Defects
of the Ryotwari Settlement:
The new
Ryotwari settlement was in a way an improvement upon the Permanent Settlement.
Yet the system suffered from several shortcomings.
1. Under
the system it was proposed that the ryot or cultivator would be recognized as
the owner of the plot of land subject to the payment of land revenue. But this
was never the case. In fact, the Ryotwari Settlement did not bring into
existence a system of peasant ownership.
2. Not
only that the cultivators were not given ownership of land but they soon
discovered that the Company's government retained the right to enhance land
revenue. The enhancement was so high that often the cultivators fell into the
clutches of the money-lenders.
3. In
reality, under the system the large zamindars were replaced by a giant
zamindar, the colonial state. The state did not allow any reduction or
remission of the revenue demand even when the crop was destroyed by natural
calamities like drought or flood.
4. Under the system the position of the ryots
or cultivators became more secure. But the rigid system of revenue collection
as also the exorbitant revenue demand hardly left the ryot with bare
subsistence even in the best of harvests.
Mahalwari
System of Settlement:
In some
parts of North India Holt Mackenzie initiated the Mahalwari Settlement in 1822.
According to this system the
Consequences
of the New Land-revenue Policy:
Its Impact
on the Peasantry and Agrarian Society: The Permanent Settlement (Zamindari),
Mahalwari or Ryotwari settlements introduced by the East India Company was a
complete departure from the traditional land-revenue systems of India. The new
land-revenue policy impacted the peasantry and the agrarian society of India.
1.
Ownership of Land: Under the system a zamindar's or a cultivator's individual
ownership of land was recognized by the British ; and everywhere in India land
became the transferable and personal property of an individual. The real motive
of the British was, to be sure of the revenue-income of the Government. As land
was recognized as the private property of an individual, he could, in times of
need, either sell or mortgage the land in his possession.
2.
Uncertain Rights on Land: The new land tenure an the revenue system introduced
by the British brought an end to the old economic relation of India.
Previously, the zamindars were the tax-collecting agents. But under the new
system the zamindars became the owners of the land. The result was that the
cultivators became only rentpaying tenants, and landlords could evict them on
one ground or another. Under the Mahalwarior Ryotwari system although ryots
theoretically became the owners of lands, their right over the land was
doubtful and uncertain.
3.
Illegal Taxes: The primary motive behind the introduction of the new revenue
settlement was to ensure the maximum revenue collection. The revenue was
assessed at a high rate and this brought about the ruin of the peasantry. The
individual ryots often suffered oppression and harsh treatment either at the
hands of
|
The Mahalwari and Ryotwari Download
List |
|||
|
Download MCQ
in PDF |
|||
|
Know the MCQ
answer |
|||
|
Download the
Other important MCQ PDF |
Click |
||
|
Know the
Other Important MCQ answer |
Click |
||
|
Descriptive Question pdf |
|||
|
Hindi Version |
Urdu Version |
English
Version |
|
|
Click |
Click |
||
(i)
Who
introduced the Mahalwari system?
(a) Lord
Cornwallis (b) Lord Dalhousie
(c) Holt Mack (d)
Holt Mackenze
(ii)
The Mahalwari system was introduced in in the
year
(a) 1772 (b)
1773 (c) 1822 (d) 1823
(iii)
The
Mahalwari system was introduced in
(a) North India (b) South India (c)
Peninsula (d) Bengal
(iv)
Who
introduced the Riotwari system?
(a) Lord
Cornwallis (b) Lord Dalhousie
(c) Thomas
Munro (d) Holt Mackenze
(v)
The
Riotwari system was introduced in
(a) North India (b)
South India (c) Madras (d) Bengal