How far did the ryotwari system affect the Indian peasantry compared to the two other system of revenue collection?
Answers
In the Ryotwari system, revenues were collected by the Company directly from the ryots (farmers). There was no intermediary like a Zamindar between the peasant and the government. So long as he paid the revenue in time, the peasant was not evicted from the land.
Ryotwari system was different from Permanent Settlement and the Mahalwari system of revenues. In the Permanent Settlement or the zamindari system, the zamindar collected taxes from the farmers and deposited it to the Company while in the Mahalwari system, the village committees collected taxes.
In the Ryotwari system, peasants directly paid taxes to the Company officials. But their condition was not very good because here the Comany officials freequently harassed them. Also the rate of taxation was very high.