There were various land revenue policies levied by the British which helped them to conquer a vast country such as India by heavily taxing the people. Land revenue is a tax or revenue levied on land-based agricultural production. The main burden of providing money for the Company's trade and profits, administration costs, and the wars of British expansion in India had to be borne by the Indian peasant or ryot. Since time immemorial, the Indian state has taken a portion of agricultural produce as land revenue. It had done so either directly through its servants or indirectly through intermediaries such as zamindars, revenue farmers, and so on, who collected land revenue from cultivators and kept a portion of it as a commission. These intermediaries were primarily land revenue collectors, though they did own some land on occasion. In this article, we will look into the land revenue policy under the British regime through this article.

Land Revenue Policies introduced by British - Background

• The Company started with acquiring Diwani rights (the right to collect taxes on behalf of the Emperor) for Bengal, Bihar, and Orissa in 1765.
• Until 1813, nearly all major changes in the administration and judicial systems were geared toward the collection of land revenues.
• The burden of funding for the Company's trade and profits, administration costs, and the wars of British expansion in India had to be borne by the Indian peasant or ryot.
• New policies were introduced by abandoning the age-old revenue administration system.
• Their policies were designed to maximize income from the land while disregarding the effects on cultivators and peasants.

Features of Land Revenue Policy

• The Indian economy was primarily agrarian, and therefore it is natural that the British sought to bank on land revenue as the primary source of income for the state.
• Warren Hastings proposed the first land income settlement, assuming that all land belonged to the sovereign.
  • He instituted changes such as auctioning the land to the highest bidder, throwing away old zamindars/families, and changing the annual settlement to five-yearly and then back to normal.
• The early administrators of the East India Company acted on the principle that the company was entitled to the entire economic rent, leaving only cultivation expenses and wages to the cultivators, resulting in the decline of agriculture.
• Large areas of land were abandoned for cultivation, and famines occurred on a regular basis.
• Excessive demand for land income has been shown to be counterproductive. This unfavourable situation compelled policymakers in India to experiment with land tenure.

Impact of Land Revenue Policy

• The rural economy as a whole suffered as a result of the disaster. All social classes were affected, from zamindars to peasants. Many people lost their jobs as a result of the loss of their land and right to cultivate.
• To meet the high revenue demand, farmers had to shift from food crops to cash crops such as indigo and cotton, causing them to buy food grains at higher prices and sell cash crops at lower prices.
• The shift to cash crops and declining land productivity had a negative impact on society, resulting in famines. This resulted in numerous famines in India, killing millions of people.
• The land settlements established a market economy with revenue payments in cash. This resulted in an increase in money-lending activities, putting Indian peasants in debt and allowing money lenders to take advantage of them.
• Previously, peasants and zamindars had the purchasing power to purchase handicrafts. Peasant income loss impacted the handicrafts industry as well.
• Handicraftsmen turned to agriculture, putting even more pressure on land. The industries were harmed as a result of a scarcity of raw materials.

Types of Land Revenue Policy

In India, there were three major systems for collecting land revenue:

Types of Land Revenue Policy

Permanent Settlement

• Prior to the arrival of the British in Bengal, there was a class of Zamindars in Bengal, Bihar, and Odisha who collected land revenue on behalf of the Mughal Emperor or his representative, the Diwan.
• The East India Company was granted the Diwani of Bengal following the Battle of Buxar in 1764.
  • However, the Company soon discovered that it was unable to collect revenue from the vast majority of farmers in rural areas. They also lacked an understanding of local laws and customs.
• The severe Bengal famine of 1770 was caused in part by the Company's neglect.
• Then, Warren Hastings attempted to enact some reforms, such as the five-year inspections.
  • In this case, the revenue collection was awarded through an auction to the person who promised the most revenue.
  • Hastings also experimented with annual land settlements due to the dangerous implications and effects of such a system. However, this did not improve the situation.
• In 1786, Lord Cornwallis proposed the Permanent Settlement system on the orders of the then-British Prime Minister, William Pitt. The Permanent Settlement Act of 1793 put this into effect.

*For detailed notes of this topic, check this link Permanent Settlement

Ryotwari System

• Thomas Munro introduced the Ryotwari System in 1820.
• In South India, this was the primary land revenue system.
• Madras, Bombay, and parts of Assam and Coorg provinces in British India were major areas where this settlement was introduced.
• The peasants were given ownership rights under the Ryotwari System. The British government collected taxes from peasants directly.
• The Ryotwari System generated 50% of its revenue on dry land and 60% on irrigated land.
• Despite the fact that farmers owned the land, they were impoverished due to excessive taxation. Furthermore, tax rates were raised on a regular basis.

*For detailed notes of this topic, check this link Ryotwari System

Mahalwari System

• Holt Mackenzie introduced the Mahalwari system in 1822. Later, during the reign of William Bentick, the system was reformed (1833).
• In North-West India, this was the primary land revenue system.
• It was introduced in British India's Central Province, North-West Frontier, Agra, Punjab, Gangetic Valley, and other areas.
• The land was divided into Mahals under this system. Each Mahal is made up of one or more villages.
• For tax purposes, the entire village (Mahal) was treated as a single unit. Tax collection was delegated to the village headman or village committee.
• The peasants were given ownership rights.
• The Mahalwari system incorporated many features from both the Zamindari and Ryotwari systems.

*For detailed notes of this topic, check this link Mahalwari System

Other Systems - Taluqdari and Malguzari

The British introduced Taluqdari and Malguzari Systems in addition to the Ryotwari, Mahalwari, and Zamindari Systems. As a result, it is clear that the British imposed high taxes on the natives in order to run their administration.

The land became a commodity as a result of British land revenue systems, resulting in a class of labourers known as bonded labourers. The peasants, bound to their land until the end, struggled to make ends meet under the British-imposed land revenue systems.

System of Taluqdari

• In different parts of India, the term 'taluqdar' has different connotations.
• Taluqdar is a powerful landowner in Oudh and in Bengal, however, a taluqdar ranks second only to a zamindar in terms of land control and social standing.
• These were developed partly as a zamindari management strategy and partly as a fiscal policy measure to raise zamindari funds for specific purposes.
• After the Permanent Settlement, zamindars developed new varieties of taluqs.
• As a result of the Permanent Settlement, many zamindars established dependent taluqs known as Pattani taluq, noabad taluq, and osat taluq.

*For detailed notes of this topic, check this link Taluqdari System

System of Malguzari

• The land tenure system that prevailed in the former Central Provinces was known as the Malguzari system, and the Malguzar was merely a revenue farmer under the Marathas.
• When the Marathas came to power in this region, they distributed village revenues to influential and wealthy individuals known as Malguzars.
• They were granted proprietary rights and were held accountable for revenue collection during British rule.
• If a village's headman became ill or was otherwise unable to answer for the sum expected by the authorities, or if a court favourite desired the village, the headman was immediately replaced by a farmer.
• Mukaddam was the name given to the farmer or manager at first.

*For detailed notes of this topic, check this link Malguzari System

Conclusion

Various types of revenue settlements gave rise to a new form of private ownership of land in which the benefit of the innovation did not reach the cultivators. Instead, it led to the impoverishment of the peasantry and hence rural indebtedness. With zamindar’s permanent right on land, the ownership of land became inequal. The land became saleable, mortgageable, and alienable to protect the government’s revenue. The British land revenue systems exposed the Indian peasantry to the exploitation of the moneylenders and the middlemen.