How zamindari system affected the development of agriculture in India?
Kalyan,
Under the colonial rule, the various systems of land settlement particularly Zamindari System was introduced in the agriculture sector. This system was introduced by Lord Cornwallis in Bengal in 1793. Under this system, the Zamindars were considered as the permanent owners of land. They were bound to pay a fixed sum of revenue to the British Government. This meant that the Zamindars were under a continuous threat that if they did not deposit the specified revenue with the British Government on a particular date, they would lose their Zamindari rights. However, they shifted their burden of revenue obligation on the peasants. In other words, they extracted the revenue that they were required to pay to the British Government from the tillers or the cultivators of soil. Moreover, the Zamindars could raise the amount of revenue to be extracted at their own will. This implied that the cultivators and tillers of soil were subject to exploitation at the hands of Zamindars. Profits from cultivation went away from the hands of cultivators to the Zamindars. This implied that hardly anything was left with the farmers as savings and for further investment. However, neither the Zamindars nor the British Government did anything to improve the condition of workers and peasants. Instead, they collected rent from the cultivators irrespective of their economic condition or the level of production in that particular year. This implied that the peasants were subject to poverty and misery, while the Zamindars and the British Government prospered at their cost. Moreover, despite high degree of exploitation the poor peasants and cultivators could not leave the occupation because of the lack of alternative means of occupation for sustenance of life. It has been considered one of the causes of backwardness of Indian agriculture.
We would advice you to not to keep on piling your questions, rather, you should keep posting 1 to 2 questions per subject (Accountancy, Economics and Business Studies) on everyday basis. Ideally, you should go through the study material that is available on our website and look for the answers to the questions. This will not only help you to enhance your analytical abilities but also will help you to learn the application of your knowledge. In this manner, you will gain confidence and will help you in evaluating your preparation.
Under the colonial rule, the various systems of land settlement particularly Zamindari System was introduced in the agriculture sector. This system was introduced by Lord Cornwallis in Bengal in 1793. Under this system, the Zamindars were considered as the permanent owners of land. They were bound to pay a fixed sum of revenue to the British Government. This meant that the Zamindars were under a continuous threat that if they did not deposit the specified revenue with the British Government on a particular date, they would lose their Zamindari rights. However, they shifted their burden of revenue obligation on the peasants. In other words, they extracted the revenue that they were required to pay to the British Government from the tillers or the cultivators of soil. Moreover, the Zamindars could raise the amount of revenue to be extracted at their own will. This implied that the cultivators and tillers of soil were subject to exploitation at the hands of Zamindars. Profits from cultivation went away from the hands of cultivators to the Zamindars. This implied that hardly anything was left with the farmers as savings and for further investment. However, neither the Zamindars nor the British Government did anything to improve the condition of workers and peasants. Instead, they collected rent from the cultivators irrespective of their economic condition or the level of production in that particular year. This implied that the peasants were subject to poverty and misery, while the Zamindars and the British Government prospered at their cost. Moreover, despite high degree of exploitation the poor peasants and cultivators could not leave the occupation because of the lack of alternative means of occupation for sustenance of life. It has been considered one of the causes of backwardness of Indian agriculture.
We would advice you to not to keep on piling your questions, rather, you should keep posting 1 to 2 questions per subject (Accountancy, Economics and Business Studies) on everyday basis. Ideally, you should go through the study material that is available on our website and look for the answers to the questions. This will not only help you to enhance your analytical abilities but also will help you to learn the application of your knowledge. In this manner, you will gain confidence and will help you in evaluating your preparation.