Describe the various types of land settlements in colonial india
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1 ANSWER

Shubham Kapri, Banker and a keen observer of the surroundings.
Answered May 31, 2015
There were following types of land settlements during colonial rule:
1. Permanent Settlement
It was introduced in Bengal and Bihar in 1793 by Lord Cornwallis. It had two special features
The zamindars and revenue collectors were converted into landlords. Their right of ownership was made hereditary and transferrable. On the other hand cultivators were reduced to low status of mere tenants.The zamindars were to give 10/11th of the rental they derived from peasantry to the state, keeping only 1/11th for themselves.The Permanent Settlement was later extended to Orrisa, northern districts of Madras and district of Varanasi.
2. Ryotwari settlement-
The cultivator was to be recognised as owner of his plot of land subject to the payment of land revenue. This settlement was not made permanent. It was revised periodically after 20 to 30 years when revenue demand was usually raised.
3. Mahalwari System-
It was a modified version of zamindari settlement, introduced in the Gangs valley, Northwest provinces, parts of central India and Punjab. The revenue settlement was to be made village by village or estate(mahal) by estate with landlords or heads of families who collectively claimed to be the landlords of the village or the estate.
The following are the various types of land settlements in colonial India:
1. The British government in India proposed three main systems of revenue collection; the Permanent, the Ryotwari and the Mahalwari system.
The Zamindari or the Permanent Settlement: introduced by Lord Cornwallis in 1793, the Permanent Settlement was a settlement to collect revenue from the regions of Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa. In this settlement, a limit for the revenue to be collected was fixed for five years. Moreover, the right to collect revenue gave birth to a new social class called Zamindars.
2. The Ryotwari Settlement: in the year 1820, Thomas Munroe initiated the Ryotwari Settlement in the regions of Madras, Bombay etc. Peasants in this settlement directly paid revenue to the colonial government. In this settlement, the position of the mediators terminated and revenue was no longer fixed for a long period.
3. The Mahalwari Settlement: this settlement was proposed by Holt Mackenzie. In this settlement, the revenue was collected by the whole estate and not individually. Punjab, Awadh, parts of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh and Agra were some of the states in which this settlement was launched.