British Land Revenue Settlement
The land revenue is a tax or revenue levied on agriculture production upon land. In 1765 British acquired the Diwani rights of Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. Till 1772 during the time of dual government in Bengal were in the hands of the Indian officials called Niab Diwans. The first two Niab Diwans were Md. Raza Khan and Raja Shitab Rai. In 1772 Lord Warren Hastings introduced Quinquennial settlement. By this system any bidder who promised to pay the highest amount of revenue from an area was given that land for 5 years, that bidder collected land revenue from villagers and paid to the company authority. As the system proved dangerous Hastings also experimented with annual settlement and appointed Amini Commission in 1776 to make an evaluation of India's land resources so that a fair land revenue settlement could be formulated. This led to introduction of new settlement such as
- Permanent Settlement
- Ryotwari Settlement
- Mahalwari Settlement
Permanent Settlement
It was first introduced in Bengal and Bihar by Lord Cornwallis in 1793. It was later extended to Odisha, northern district of Madras and districts of Varanasi. The main aim was to create a stable and predictable source of revenue for the country. Under this settlement Zamindar were responsible for paying the revenue on time to the company. If he failed to pay his revenue on or before the fixed date he would be removed from his Zamindari. The revenue demand between the company and Zamindar were fixed permanently. Zamindars were recognized as owners of land. They were granted hereditary rights over the land. The fixed revenue ensure a stable predictable income for the British but high revenue demand and pressure to pay a fixed amount led to widespread exploitation of peasants, who fell in debt and poverty. This system created a class of Zamindars who had significant control over the rural society contributed to social stratification and inequality. The exploiting practices of the Zamindar caused severe distress leading to landlessness and increase rural poverty. The permanent revenue demand discourage Zamindar from investing in land leading to stagnation in agriculture productivity. One of the consequences of the settlement was increase in litigation due to the removal of the courtiers and extension of the right of appeal.
Ryotwari Settlement
A land revenue settlement introduced by English East India Company. Thomas Munro and Alexander Read are associated with the implementation of Ryotwari Settlement in Madras. Major Wingate and Mr. Goldsmith are associated with the implementation of Ryotwari settlement in Bombay. Later this settlement was introduced in other parts of India such as Assam and Coorg of Karnataka. The objective was to eliminate the intermediatory and establish the direct relationship between the government and the cultivator. Under the settlement the government acknowledge the peasants as the owners of the land. Revenue was to be calculated upon individual holding based on fertility of soil, the type of crop grown and other factors. The peasants was exempted from revenue payment in case of bad harvest or natural calamities. However, despite these regulations which were seldom, the high revenue demand often placed a significant leading to ineptness and economic distress which led to rise of new class of land lords call Mirasidare
Mahalwari Settlement
First implementation in Agra and later extended to the parts of United provinces, Punjab, The Gangetic plains and the parts of central India. It was introduced in 1822 by Holt Mackenzie and was later refined by Lord William Bentick in 1833. The other officials who are associated with this settlement are James Thompson and Merttins Bird. The objective was to create a more flexiable system of land revenue collection that could adapt local condition and agriculture productivity. The system were based upon collective responsibility of a village called Mahats. Revenue was estimated for the entire Mahats. It was subjected to periodic revision based upon agriculture productivity and market condition. The entire Mahat were collectively responsible for the paying the revenue. However just like other land revenue settlement in India in the Mahalwadri Settlement the high revenue demand paced a significant financial burden on the peasants leading to indepthness and economic distress.