What is the difference between the permanent settlement and the mahalwari settlement introduced by the British in ancient India?
Answers
The Mahalwari system was introduced by Holt Mackenzie in 1822.[1] The other two systems were the Permanent Settlement of Bengal in 1793 and the Ryotwari system in 1820. It covered the States of Punjab,Awadh and Agra, parts of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. During the 1800s, the British tried to establish their control over the administrative machinery of India. The System of Land Revenue acted as a chief source of income of the British. Land was one of the most important source of income for the British. Thus, they used land to control the entire Revenue system, strengthening their economic condition in India.
The word "Mahalwari" is derived from the Hindi word Mahal, which means house, district, neighbourhood or quarter.[2] This system consisted of landlords or lambardars claiming to represent entire villages or even groups of villages. Along with the village communities, the landlords were jointly responsible for the payment of the revenues. But, there was individual responsibility. The land included under this system consisted of all land of the villages, even the forestland, pastures etc.