Short note on condition of peasants under the permanent settlement
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Since the permanent settlement made Zamindars owners of land, peasants were left at their mercy. The Peasants had no right over land and could be kicked out any time.
In 1799, the East India Company passed some notorious regulations which gave arbitrary powers to the Zamindars to eject the cultivator and forfeit the agriculture stock for non-payment. This was probably the lowest point in Indian Peasantry.
Since any increase land productivity was not subject to increase taxes, it was expected that Zamindars would make efforts to improve the conditions of the tenants. This system was that what company would levy from the Zamindars was fixed as 10 parts out of 11 parts. The 11th part was the remuneration of the Zamindar. However, what the Zamindar would levy from the Peasants was left unsettled. This implies that more the value of 11 parts, more is the remuneration of Zamindar’s 11th part. Thus, it was clear that if the productivity of land is improved, company will have no right to demand anything in excess of what was already settled. But this belief of Cornwallis was belied later because unfortunately, the increased earnings were not spent on peasants. Instead this led to increased luxuries and pleasures of the Zamindars.