Ch4: Rural Life and Society

define mahal

In Mahalwari Settlement, the land revenue settlement was made for the entire estate or mahal.

define ryot

cultivator

Give a brief picture of the villages in India prior to the Land Revenue Policies being adopted.

1. Villages in India were primarily self-sufficient units with the main occupations of agriculture and handicrafts. 2. The landlord or officials appointed by the King collected the land revenue. 3. Mostly the farmers owned the land they tilled.

Where and by whom was the Permanent Settlement introduced in India? Discuss briefly this system of revenue collection.

The Permanent Settlement was introduced by Lord Cornwallis in Bihar, Bengal and Orissa in 1793. 1. This system made sure the landowners or the zamindars obtained hereditary rights over their land. 2. The farmers were reduced to the status of tenants. 3. The zamindars had to pay a fixed amount of land revenue every year to the company even if there were adverse conditions such as flood or drought, failing which, their land would be auctioned off. 4. The land revenue was fixed at fifty percent of the total produce.

What was Ijaradari System? Who introduced it? Why did it fail?

The ijaradari system was introduced by Warren Hastings according to this the right to collect revenue was given to the highest bidder called contractor for a period of five years. 1. This system was a failure because bidding was often not related to the actual productivity of the land. 2. The ijaradars were not interested in making improvements in land since the land was auctioned periodically. 3. The peasants were exploited by the contractors to extract more and more revenue.

indicum

indicum is a Latin word meaning 'from India'

Talukdar

landholder in Mughal and British times responsible for collecting taxes from a district

zaymindars

landowners who often extracted exorbitant rates from the cultivators

define plantation

large estates growing commercial crops