{"id":68,"date":"2025-08-25T22:42:20","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T17:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mumkinhaiias.in\/?p=68"},"modified":"2025-08-25T22:42:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T17:12:20","slug":"land-revenue-system-in-india-during-british-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mumkinhaiias.in\/?p=68","title":{"rendered":"Land Revenue System in India (During British Rule)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"p1\">1.&nbsp;Background<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">Land revenue was the main source of income for the British in India. Almost 50%\u201360% of revenue came from land tax. Different systems were introduced in different regions depending on local conditions, experiments, and political needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">2.&nbsp;Major Land Revenue Systems<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">(A)&nbsp;Permanent Settlement (1793)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">Introduced by Lord Cornwallis in Bengal, Bihar, Orissa. Features: Revenue fixed permanently between the Company and Zamindars. Zamindars became owners of land \u2192 peasants became tenants. If zamindars failed to pay, land was auctioned. Pros: Stability of revenue, rise of a new landlord class loyal to British. Cons: Peasants exploited (high rents, eviction). No incentive for zamindars to improve agriculture. Led to pauperisation of peasants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">(B)&nbsp;Ryotwari System (1792 onwards)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">Introduced by Thomas Munro and Alexander Read in Madras, Bombay, Assam, parts of Bengal. Features: Direct settlement with peasants (ryots). Peasant recognized as owner of land if revenue paid. Revenue revised periodically (not permanent). 50% of produce in dry areas, 60% in irrigated areas. Pros: No middlemen (zamindars removed). Cons: Heavy revenue demand, frequent revisions \u2192 insecurity for peasants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">(C)&nbsp;Mahalwari System (1822)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">Introduced by Holt Mackenzie \u2192 modified by William Bentinck. Implemented in North-West Provinces, Punjab, Central India. Features: Settlement made with the village community (mahal). Entire village responsible for revenue. Periodic revision. Pros: Reflected traditional collective ownership. Cons: Still heavy demand, peasants in debt, moneylenders gained control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">3.&nbsp;Other Minor Systems<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">Talukdari System (Awadh): Revenue collected through hereditary chiefs (talukdars). Jagirdari System (Rajput states): Continuation of Mughal-era jagirs under British supervision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">4.&nbsp;Impact of Land Revenue Systems<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"p1\">Agriculture Commercialisation: Cash crops (indigo, cotton, opium) grown for British industries. Peasant Distress: Famines, poverty, indebtedness, loss of land. Rise of Zamindars &amp; Moneylenders: Rural elite exploited peasants. Decline of Traditional Village Economy. Peasant Revolts: Indigo revolt, Deccan riots, etc.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>1.&nbsp;Background Land revenue was the main source of income for the British in India. Almost 50%\u201360% of revenue came from land tax. Different systems were introduced in different regions depending on local conditions, experiments, and political needs. 2.&nbsp;Major Land Revenue Systems (A)&nbsp;Permanent Settlement (1793) Introduced by Lord Cornwallis in Bengal, Bihar, Orissa. Features: Revenue fixed&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mumkinhaiias.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mumkinhaiias.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mumkinhaiias.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mumkinhaiias.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mumkinhaiias.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mumkinhaiias.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":69,"href":"https:\/\/mumkinhaiias.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68\/revisions\/69"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mumkinhaiias.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mumkinhaiias.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mumkinhaiias.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}