Question

Write down the land ownership pattern in pre-british india

Answer 1

Before British rule there was no formal individual ownership of land in India. However, during the two centuries of British rule (1757–1947), India’s traditional land ownership and land use patterns were changed with the introduction of the concept of “private property”.

Land ownership systems

Various land ownership and transfer systems were introduced by the British:

The ‘zamindari’ system prevailed in most of northern India whereby feudal lords (zamidars) became owners of large tracts of land. They had to pay fixed revenue payments to the government and so peasants became tenant farmers and had to pay rent on the land they farmed.The ‘ryotwari’ system was followed in south and west parts of India. Individual cultivators (ryots or raiyats) were proprietors of land against revenue payments. They had rights to sub-let, mortgage and transfer land.The ‘mahalwari system’ was a third system whereby entire villages had to pay revenue, with farmers contributing their share in proportion to their holdings.The Indian Forest Act was passed in 1920, making all forest land government-owned. This de-legitimised the traditional community ownership systems in adivasi (tribal) societies.

Land distribution under these systems became extremely unequal - rural society was polarised: landlords and rich peasants versus tenants and agricultural labourers. By the time of Independence in 1947, about 40% of India’s rural population was working as landless agricultural labour.

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