a. During Kingship, land was divided into Jagirs, Jagirs were allotted to Jagirdars, who split the land they got and allocated to sub-ordinate Zamindars. They made peasants cultivate the land, in-return collected part of their revenue as tax.
b. British Agrarian Policy - India primarily agricultural country. Till 18th century, strong relation bw agriculture and cottage industries. British destroyed handicraft industry while unleashing changes in agrarian structures by introducing new systems of land tenures and policies of revenue administration. India's economic dominance revolved around agriculture which British ruthlessly exploited.
c. Permanent Settlement 1793 by Lord Cornwallis - introduced in Bengal, then in Bihar and Odisha. Hastings introduced annual lease system of auctioning land to highest bidder. Shore and Grant were consulted by Cornwallis in coming up with this. Features:
i. Zamindars recognized owners of land, till they pay revenue to EIC regularly
ii. Amount of revenue firmly fixed and not raised. Govt got 89% (10/11 parts)
iii. Ryots became tenants
iv. Settlement took away administrative and judicial functions of zamindars
This system was bitterly criticized.
i. No attempt was made to survey land and assess its value.
ii. Effects on both zamindar and ryots were disastrous. Many zamindars defaulted, some entrusted collection to agents who took illegal taxes from ryots.
iii. Idea of building benevolent land-lord system failed. Company faced losses in long term because land productivity was high. However, zamindars prospered at the cost of welfare of tenants.
d. Ryotwari settlement 1820 - by Munro. Introduced in Madras, later Bombay & Assam.
i. Peasant was recognized as proprietor of land. No intermediary such as zamindar.
ii. Revenue paid in time = peasant not evicted. Peasant directly responsible. 50% dry lands, 60% irrigated lands.
iii. Land revenue fixed from 20 to 40 years
However, collection officials indulged in harsh measures hence system not successful.
e. Mahalwari settlement - introduced in Punjab in 1833 (Bentick) and subsequently in North/Central.
i. Basic unit of revenue settlement was village. Joint responsibility of paying revenue with entire mahal.
ii. Entire land of village measured when fixing revenue.
iii. Eliminated middlemen, but benefit enjoyed by govt not peasants
f. Handicrafts policy - trade monopoly ended by Charter Act 1833.
i. Textiles were most important among Indian industries. Muslin of Dhaka, carpets of Lahore, shawls of Kashmir, embroidery of Benaras were famous. Important centers were - Krishnanagar, Chanderi, Arni, Benaras.
ii. Shipping, leather and metal industries along with cutting and polishing of marbles and precious stones.
British influence
i. Indian market flooded with cheap imports from Britain - which had sought to develop India as a colony market to balance its trade deficit. Import duty of 2.5% imposed cotton, while 15% on Indian cotton.
ii. Goods from England can only be brought by English ships => Indian textiles couldn’t enter British market.
iii. Domestic demand for luxury goods reduced as British paramountcy curtailed expenditure of royals and nobles.
iv. Industrial revolution in Britain made their products cheaper and faster to produce and sought to develop a mass market in India.
b. British Agrarian Policy - India primarily agricultural country. Till 18th century, strong relation bw agriculture and cottage industries. British destroyed handicraft industry while unleashing changes in agrarian structures by introducing new systems of land tenures and policies of revenue administration. India's economic dominance revolved around agriculture which British ruthlessly exploited.
c. Permanent Settlement 1793 by Lord Cornwallis - introduced in Bengal, then in Bihar and Odisha. Hastings introduced annual lease system of auctioning land to highest bidder. Shore and Grant were consulted by Cornwallis in coming up with this. Features:
i. Zamindars recognized owners of land, till they pay revenue to EIC regularly
ii. Amount of revenue firmly fixed and not raised. Govt got 89% (10/11 parts)
iii. Ryots became tenants
iv. Settlement took away administrative and judicial functions of zamindars
This system was bitterly criticized.
i. No attempt was made to survey land and assess its value.
ii. Effects on both zamindar and ryots were disastrous. Many zamindars defaulted, some entrusted collection to agents who took illegal taxes from ryots.
iii. Idea of building benevolent land-lord system failed. Company faced losses in long term because land productivity was high. However, zamindars prospered at the cost of welfare of tenants.
d. Ryotwari settlement 1820 - by Munro. Introduced in Madras, later Bombay & Assam.
i. Peasant was recognized as proprietor of land. No intermediary such as zamindar.
ii. Revenue paid in time = peasant not evicted. Peasant directly responsible. 50% dry lands, 60% irrigated lands.
iii. Land revenue fixed from 20 to 40 years
However, collection officials indulged in harsh measures hence system not successful.
e. Mahalwari settlement - introduced in Punjab in 1833 (Bentick) and subsequently in North/Central.
i. Basic unit of revenue settlement was village. Joint responsibility of paying revenue with entire mahal.
ii. Entire land of village measured when fixing revenue.
iii. Eliminated middlemen, but benefit enjoyed by govt not peasants
f. Handicrafts policy - trade monopoly ended by Charter Act 1833.
i. Textiles were most important among Indian industries. Muslin of Dhaka, carpets of Lahore, shawls of Kashmir, embroidery of Benaras were famous. Important centers were - Krishnanagar, Chanderi, Arni, Benaras.
ii. Shipping, leather and metal industries along with cutting and polishing of marbles and precious stones.
British influence
i. Indian market flooded with cheap imports from Britain - which had sought to develop India as a colony market to balance its trade deficit. Import duty of 2.5% imposed cotton, while 15% on Indian cotton.
ii. Goods from England can only be brought by English ships => Indian textiles couldn’t enter British market.
iii. Domestic demand for luxury goods reduced as British paramountcy curtailed expenditure of royals and nobles.
iv. Industrial revolution in Britain made their products cheaper and faster to produce and sought to develop a mass market in India.
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