essay about ryotwari system
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Ryotwari system, one of the three principal methods of revenue collection in British India. It was prevalent in most of southern India, being the standard system of the Madras Presidency (a British-controlled area now constituting much of present-day Tamil Nadu and portions of neighbouring states). The system was devised by Capt. Alexander Read and Thomas (later Sir Thomas) Munro at the end of the 18th century and introduced by the latter when he was governor (1820–27) of Madras (now Chennai). The principle was the direct collection of the land revenue from each individual cultivator by government agents. For this purpose all holdings were measured and assessed according to crop potential and actual cultivation. The advantages of this system were the elimination of middlemen, who often oppressed villagers, and an assessment of the tax on land actually cultivated and not merely occupied. Offsetting these advantages was the cost of detailed measurement and of individual collection. This system also gave much power to subordinate revenue officials, whose activities were inadequately supervised.
The name of the system comes from the word ryot, an Anglicization by the British in India of the Arabic word raʿīyah, meaning a peasant or cultivator. The Arabic word passed into Persian (raʿeyyat) and was carried by the Mughals, who used it throughout India in their revenue administration. The British borrowed the word from them and continued to use it for revenue purposes in the Anglicized form. The word has passed into various Indian languages, but in northern India the Hindi term kisan is generally used.
ryotwari system was first tried on small scale by Captain Alexander Read in some ares that were taken over by the british company after wars with tipu sultan .It was subsequently developed by thomas munro ,who was governor of madras at that time (1819-26).he extended it over south india.Read and munro felt that in south there were no traditional zamindars. the settlements they argued had to be made directly with ryots or cultivators who had tilled the land for generations.their fields first had to be carefully surveyed before revenue assessment was made.But few years the system got some problems.1.revenue officials fixed the revenue demand too high for their desire. 2.peasants were unable to pay ,ryots fled the countryside and villages became deserted in many regions. Optimistic officials had imagined that new system would transform peasants into rich enterprising farmers. but this did not happened.