The Zamindars were declared as owners of the soil. They were supposed to pay a fixed sum to the government while they could extract as much as they wanted from the actual tillers of the soil.
Answers
The zamindari system of land settlement was responsible for the stagnation of Indian agriculture because of the below-mentioned reasons
(i) The zamindars were recognized as permanent owners of the soil.
(ii) The zamindars were to pay a fixed sum to the government as land revenue.
(iii) The zamindars were absolutely free to extract as much from the tillers of the soil as they could.
Permanent Land Revenue Settlement
Permanent settlement of Bengal was introduced in 1793 by Lord Cornwallis. It was introduced in Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, parts of Northern Karnataka, Varanasi and some other areas. The Zamindars needed to pay a fixed amount of land revenue on a fixed date every year. This amount could not be increased later, however, if the Zamindar failed to pay the amount on fixed date, the Company could sell their land via public auction.