What was the effects of the land revenue systems on the common people and cultivators?

Dear student,

The following points may help you:

a. The British through their economic policies brought about drain of wealth and brought about huge exploitation of the people.
b. They made Indian economy subservient to their interest and completely impoverished agriculture, with high rate of revenue.
c. The British also tried to expand the cultivation of crops in the countryside by compelling farmers to grow opium, indigo, commercial crops like wheat, rice jute, tea etc to fulfill their economic interests
d. Most of the systems introduced by the British like Mahalwari system, Ryotwari system failed primarily because of high rate of revenue, the British also insisted in collecting revenue even in case of crop failure.
e. Like wise, permanent settlement introduced by the British, deprived peasants of their customary rights, Zamindars who were given ownership rights were not interested improving the land, the revenue was too high for the zamindars to pay.
f. Under Ryotwari system for instance,he revenue was collected directly from the ryot the actual tiller or cultivators. The amount of revenue was fixed, however land was carefully assessed before fixing the rate of revenue. The cultivator was required to pay a fixed amount of revenue even in case of a crop failure burdening the cultivator.
g. Similarly, under Mahalwari systemhe revenue was collected from the village , generated from the village land which was collectively owned by the village community, . The amount of revenue was not fixed and was periodically revised.. The amount of revenue was too high burdening the villagers
f. Further, as the rate of revenue was not fixed and was revised periodically, burdening the peasants. The village people then borrowed money from the moneylenders who often charged high rate of interest
g. Similarly, the British policy towards expanding production of Indigo had its own flaws., as it required large piece of land, more labour , at the same persistent cultivation of indigo affected the overall fertility of the land, later resulting the Blue rebellion.
h. The British were not interested in investing in land or enhancing its productivity.
i. It is due to such economic policies British made Indian economy subservient to their interests and reduced country to abject poverty , with famines.

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The British domination over Indian land started in the seventeenth century and by the end of that century the British rule extended over large areas with the fall of Mughal empire, defeat of the Marathas and subjugation of local powers. The British inherited the institutional form of agrarian system from the Mughals. The British superimposed a system over the existing pattern in tune with British customs and laws relating land. Broadly three principal types of land revenue system were introduced in British India. The basic characteristic of each system was the attempt to incorporate elements of the preceding agrarian structure. The interaction of colonial policy and existing systems produced widely different local results and hybrid forms. it is interesting to note that the techniques used in land surveying in many parts of India even today remain substantially unchanged since their introduction by Raja Todarmal during the reign of Mughal Emperor Akbar.
Different land revenue systems were introduced in various part of British India, as the British annexed different parts of India in various periods. Let us have an introspection into three broad land revenue systems introduced by the British. These land revenue systems are 1. Zamindari system, 2. Rywotari System and 3. Mahalwari System.

Zamindari system:

The Zamindari system was introduced in early British period. The Permanent settlement Act was passed in 1793 and initially introduced in Bengal. The system was also found in large parts of Northern India (except Avdh, Agra, Jaipur and Jodhpur), Bihar and Orissa. The system was introduced to ensure the revenue receipt of the british colonial power, where a Zamindar was declared the proprietor of land on condition of fixed revenue payments to the British regime. The peasants were turned into tenant farmers and deprived of the land title including other rights and privileges enjoyed during the Mughal period. The Zamindars collected the rents of land through different intermediate collectors. As a result of such practice there had been creation of multilevel ranks of collector under the Zamindar. The peasantry was subject to deprivation of his share in produce from land and relegated to abject poverty. This revenue system accounted for 57 per cent of cultivated area in the country. The Floud commission, inquiring the reasons of the Great Bengal Famine in 1943, recommended the abolition of intermediaries on land interest to the British Government.

Rywotari System:

The Rywotari system was introduced in Madras Presidency in 1792 and in Bombay Presidency in 1817-18. This system recognized the proprietary right of the peasant on land and resembled the revenue system of the Mughal to a great extent. The system covered nearly all the southern states and many western states of India including the erstwhile Central Province (i.e. Madhya Pradesh). Even the princely states of Jaipur and Jodhpur had this category of revenue system, as it existed during the Mughal period. However, the pockets of Zamindri prevailed within the Rywotari regions, particularly in the princely states and the areas governed by the feudal lords. The Rywotari system covered nearly 38 per cent of the cultivated area in India.

Mahalwari System:

The Mahalwari system was introduced between 1840 and 1850. In this system the entire village constituted revenue settlement as collective unit. The peasants paid the revenue share of whole village in proportion according to their individual holdings. The system covered the erstwhile Punjab, parts of Orissa and Madhya Pradesh, and the princely states of Avdh and Agra in Uttar Pradesh. The System was not extensive and included only 5 per cent of the cultivated land in India.
Of the three systems the Rywotari resembled the Mughal revenue system, wherein the proprietary rights of the cultivators had been recognized. This system is considered to be most convenient and appropriate instrument for social development. However, the British legislation institutionalized the transfer of land and created the abuse of land-market, which was almost absent in the Mughal period. The legislation enacted during 1850s in Rywotari and Mahalwari areas enabled moneylenders to recover debts from the mortgaged land holdings. It caused serious impact on transfer of land from the holding of cultivator to non-cultivator. "As a result, rural society in Rywotari and Mahalwari areas was polarised into landlords and rich peasants versus tenants and agricultural labourers, and the distribution of land became highly unequal". (The Royal Commission on Agriculture, 1924-25).
An interesting study has been made on agricultural growth rate relating to types of tenure system prevailing in various states. The study reveals that the former Rywotari and Mahalwari areas of Southern and Western India have achieved higher rates of agricultural growth than the former Zamindari areas of Northern and Eastern India.