Xii history notes on colonialism and rural society
Answers
ByBengal – Establishment of colonial rule – New land revenue, Auction system under Warren Hastings – 1793, Permanent Revenue settlement in Bengal by Lord Cornwallis.
Crises in village economy, revenue demand of the state was fixed.
The rise of the Jotedars – their land was cultivated through share croppers.
Resistance of Zamindars – their land was auctioned frequently.
The fifth report report submitted to British Parliament 1813.
The Hoe and the Plough – Shifting agriculture, expensive of village economy.
Paharias – hunters, shifting cultivators, food gathers connected with forests, invaded settled farmers 1770.
Santhals – Settled in Bengal – practiced cultivation land demarcated to them known as Daman-i-koh.
Conflicts with unsettled paharias -1850 – they resisted the British – Santhal revolt.
Revolt in the Bombay and Deccan – 1875.
Burning of account book of moneylenders and shopkeepers.
New revenue System – Ryotwari system in Bombay Deccan – direct settlement, land assessed for 30 years subject to periodic revision.
The problem of unpaid revenue
In introducing the permanent settlement, the British hoped to resolve the problems they had been facing since the conquest of Bengal.
The rural economy in Bengal was in crisis with recurrent famines and declining agricultural output.
The problem lay in identifying individuals who could both improve agriculture and contract to pay the fixed revenue to the state.
The permanent settlement was made with the rajas and taluqdars of Bengal.
They were classified as Zamindars and had to pay the revenue that was fixed.
The Zamindar was not the landowner in the village, but a revenue collector of the state.
The zamindar collected rent from different villages, paid the revenue to the company,and retained the differences as his income.
He was expected to pay the Company regularly, failing which his estate could be auctioned.