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- The Company got the diwani of Bengal in 1765; it needed steady revenue after the famine of 1770.
- Permanent Settlement (1793), Cornwallis: revenue fixed permanently; zamindars became revenue payers; the sunset law put estates up for auction on default.
- Many zamindaris were auctioned because demands were high, prices were low and zamindars had less authority.
- Jotedars (rich peasants) were often more powerful than zamindars in village life.
- Paharias lived by hunting and shifting cultivation; Santals settled as farmers in the area called Damin-i-Koh (1832); the Santal rebellion (1855–56) led by Sido and Kanhu followed.
- Ryotwari (Munro, Madras; also Bombay) settled revenue with the cultivator; the Deccan riots (1875) followed the cotton boom and bust, and the Limitation Law of 1859.
- Sources: the Fifth Report (1813), revenue records, surveys and the Deccan Riots Commission report; all show the official view and need careful reading.
The Big Picture
1. Background: Bengal Under the Company
- The Company became the diwan (revenue collector) of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa in 1765.
- Before 1793 it tried various revenue arrangements; collection was uncertain, and agriculture suffered.
- The famine of 1770 killed a very large share of Bengal’s population and hurt farming.
- The Company wanted regular revenue and, it hoped, improved cultivation.
2. The Permanent Settlement (1793)
Terms
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Introduced by | Lord Cornwallis |
| Revenue payers | Zamindars (rajas and taluqdars treated as zamindars) |
| Revenue demand | Fixed permanently; no revision even if income grew |
| Payment rule | Sunset law: pay on the fixed date or the estate is auctioned |
| Role of zamindar | Collected rent from ryots and paid the Company’s share; ryots cultivated the land |
Why the British introduced it ?
- To secure a regular, predictable income from land.
- To encourage zamindars to invest in agriculture, as British landlords were thought to do.
- To create a class of zamindars loyal to the Company.
- Past experience showed that frequent revision discouraged improvement.
How zamindars’ power was limited
- Armed retinues were disbanded and customs duties abolished.
- Zamindars’ courts (cutcheri) were brought under the Company’s Collector.
- Local police were placed under officials (darogas) appointed by the Company.
3. Why Zamindars Defaulted
- High initial demand: fixed at a high level to protect the Company’s income.
- Fixed even in bad years: revenue was due whatever the harvest.
- Low prices of agricultural produce in the 1790s made payment hard.
- Weak authority: ryots delayed rent, and zamindars depended on their amlas (agents) to collect it.
- Sunset law: a single late payment could lose the estate.
Result: auctions
- Many zamindaris were auctioned; the Burdwan estate was auctioned in 1797.
- Buyers included merchants and officials; many sales were benami (fictitious), made in the name of agents so zamindars kept control.
- Zamindars also moved property to women of the family, since the Company did not take over women’s property.
- Threats by lathiyals (armed men) discouraged outsiders from taking possession of auctioned land.
4. Jotedars: Power in the Village
- Jotedars were rich peasants and traders in the villages, strongest in north Bengal; also called haoladars, gantidars or mandals.
- They controlled large areas of land and rented it to sharecroppers (adhiyars or bargadars), who ploughed it and shared the produce.
- They also controlled local trade and moneylending, so many villagers depended on them.
- They resisted zamindars’ attempts to raise rents and encouraged ryots to refuse payment.
- Result: jotedars often had more effective local power than zamindars.
5. Paharias and Santals in the Rajmahal Hills
| Point | Paharias | Santals |
|---|---|---|
| Livelihood | Hunting, forest produce, shifting (jhum) cultivation | Settled plough farming; skilled at clearing forest |
| Relation to plains | Raided plains in lean times; zamindars paid them to keep peace | Encouraged by the British to settle and expand cultivation |
| British response | Augustus Cleveland offered allowances to Paharia chiefs to keep order | Land marked as Damin-i-Koh (1832) for Santal settlement |
Santal grievances and rebellion
- Santal villages grew rapidly after 1832, and revenue demands rose with them.
- Moneylenders and traders (dikus) and zamindars took their land and charged heavy interest.
- Santal rebellion (hul), 1855–56: led by Sido and Kanhu; it was crushed by the army.
- Afterwards the Santal Parganas were created as a separate district with special protection.
6. The Ryotwari System and the Deccan
Ryotwari
- Introduced in Madras by Thomas Munro and extended to Bombay.
- Revenue was settled directly with the ryot (cultivator) and revised periodically (about every 30 years).
- Demand was often high and rigid, putting many peasants in debt.
Deccan riots (1875)
- Cotton boom (1860s): the American Civil War raised demand for Indian cotton; moneylenders gave easy loans.
- Bust: when the war ended, prices fell, but revenue stayed high; credit dried up.
- Limitation Law (1859): debt bonds were valid for only three years, so moneylenders forced peasants to sign new bonds, often with more debt.
- In May 1875 ryots in Supa (Poona district) attacked moneylenders’ houses and burned their account books; the riots spread to Poona and Ahmadnagar.
- The government appointed the Deccan Riots Commission; the Agriculturists Relief Act (1879) followed.
7. Revenue Systems Compared
| System | Where | Settled with | Revision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Permanent Settlement (zamindari) | Bengal | Zamindars | Never (fixed) |
| Ryotwari | Madras, Bombay | Individual ryots | Periodic |
| Mahalwari | North-western provinces | Village (mahal) | Periodic |
8. Official Archives as Sources
| Source | What it tells us | Watch out |
|---|---|---|
| Fifth Report (1813) | Long report on the Company’s administration, with petitions and revenue figures | Written by the Company; it can defend official policy |
| Revenue records and Collectors’ reports | Settlements, defaults and auctions | Show the government’s view |
| Surveys by Francis Buchanan | Life in the Rajmahal Hills and north Bengal | One observer’s view |
| Deccan Riots Commission report | Peasants’ complaints and moneylender evidence | Collected under official questions |
| Newspapers and petitions | Public reaction | Not neutral; some voices missing |
- Historians read official records along with other sources, such as petitions, newspapers and oral accounts, to get a fuller picture.
9. Timeline
10. Important Terms
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Diwani | Right to collect revenue |
| Zamindar | Revenue-paying landholder in Bengal |
| Sunset law | Estate auctioned if revenue unpaid by sunset on the due date |
| Benami | Purchase in a false name |
| Jotedar | Rich peasant with local power in Bengal |
| Adhiyar / bargadar | Sharecropper |
| Ryot | Cultivator |
| Damin-i-Koh | Land marked for Santal settlement (1832) |
| Diku | Outsider (in Santal usage) |
| Ryotwari | Revenue settled with the cultivator |
| Sahukar | Moneylender |
Ten Fast Facts
- The Deccan riots began at Supa in May 1875.
- The Company got the diwani of Bengal in 1765.
- Cornwallis introduced the Permanent Settlement in 1793.
- Zamindars were revenue payers, not owners of every field.
- The sunset law put late-paying estates up for auction.
- Jotedars were strongest in north Bengal.
- Augustus Cleveland pacified the Paharias with allowances.
- Damin-i-Koh was marked out for the Santals in 1832.
- Sido and Kanhu led the Santal hul of 1855–56.
- The Limitation Law of 1859 hurt Deccan ryots by shortening bond validity.
Thanku so much mam
Nice notes