Presentation
Presentation
Presentation
PERMANENT SETTLEMENT
The Permanent Settlement also known as the Permanent Settlement of Bengal (Bangla : Chirosthayi Bandobasto) was an agreement between the East India Company and Bengali landlords to fix revenues to be raised from land, with far-reaching consequences for both agricultural methods and productivity in the entire Empire and the political realities of the Indian countryside. It was concluded in 1793, by the Company administration headed by Charles, Earl Cornwallis. It formed one part of a larger body of legislation enacted known as the Cornwallis Code. This system gave birth to a new class of landlords called zamindars who had the power to evict any cultivator of the soil due to non-payment of revenue. As such, they used oppressive methods to collect the taxes. The position of cultivators became miserable. On the other hand, maximum
RYOTWARI SYSTEM
The Ryotwari System, instituted in some parts of British India, was one of the two main systems used to collect revenues from the cultivators of agricultural land. These revenues included undifferentiated land taxes and rents, collected simultaneously. Where the land revenue was imposed directly on the ryots -- the individual cultivators who actually worked the landthe system of assessment was known as ryotwari. Where the land revenue was imposed indirectlythrough agreements made with Zamindars -- the system of assessment was known as zamindari. In Bombay, Madras, Assam and Burma the Zamindar usually did not have a position as a middleman between the government and the farmer. The ryots were forced to pay revenue even when there were no crops due to floods, droughts or any other natural calamity.
MAHALWARI SYSTEM
In Mahalwari System, a settlement was made collectively, with a group of villages called mahal. In 1833, the Mahalwari Settlement was introduced in the Punjab, the central provinces and parts of north western provinces (Present UP). Under this system the basic unit of revenue settlement was the village or the mahal. As the village land belonged jointly to the village community the responsibility of paying the revenue rested with the entire mahal or the village community. So the entire land of the village was measured at the time of fixing the revenue. The demand of Land revenue under the Mahalwari system was also maximum. Prior to British rule, land revenue collected from North India was 135 lakh rupees. But the demand fixed in 1st, 2nd & 3rd year of company rule in this area stood at 156 lakh & 168 lakh, respectively. During 1807 1818 despite opposition it was increased to 45%. In 1822, it was increased to a whopping 80 percent of actual produce of land. Though the Mahalwari system eliminated the middlemen between the govt. and the village community & brought about improvement in irrigation facility yet its benefit was largely appropriated by the govt.
REVOLTS BY FARMERS
Whenever atrocities, repression and exploitation reach beyond a certain limit, there is a mass outburst in the form of revolt or rebellion. There is along list of injustice meted out to the farmers at various times during British rule. Some of these are: Land Revenue Settlements and their administration. Economic exploitation, especially of the rural masses. Long standing loans and indebtedness. Eviction of peasants from agricultural land and misery of landless labourers. These causes resulted in revolts, outbreaks and rebellions even before the First War of Independence in 1857. It was only in 1930 that the organisation Kisan Sabhas supported the cause of the peasants.
TRIBAL SOCITIES
According to Oxford Dictionary "A tribe is a group of people in a primitive or barbarious stage of development acknowledging the authority of a chief and usually regarding themselves as having a common ancestor. D.N Majumdar defines tribe as a social group with territorial affiliation, endogamous with no specialization of functions ruled by tribal officers hereditary or otherwise, united in language or dialect recognizing social distance with other tribes or castes. According to Ralph Linton tribe is a group of bands occupying a contiguous territory or territories and having a feeling of unity deriving from numerous similarities in a culture, frequent contacts and a certain community of interests.
TRIBAL REVOLTS
Revolt by Khasis, who lived in the Khasi hills of north-west Assam, took place in 1829. Construction of a road through their land, united many Khasi chiefs against the Britishers under the leadership of Bar Manik and Tirut Singh. But the British suppressed it brutally. The Kukas of hilly regions of Manipur and Tripura kept on attacking the Britishers territories from 1829. But were forced to surrender in 1850. The Khonds of Khondmals (near Orissa) revolted against in 1846 due to the fear of being annexed. But they could not stand before the might of Britishers. The Santhals found themselves quite helpless against the ruthless exploitation and oppression of the traders and the middlemen. They were expecting the British Government to safeguard their interests. When nothing was done, they revolted against the Britishers in 1855 to 1856 under the leadership of Siddim and Kahnu.
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