Meaning of Colonialism and Countryside :-
We all know that the word colonial means slavery and colonialism means slavery ideology.
The word countryside is often seen in the context of people leading a village or rural way of life i.e. colonialism and countryside meaning colonial rule i.e. what was the impact of British rule in Indian rural life.
war of Plasi :-
The Battle of Plassey took place on 23 June 1757 at a place called Plassey on the banks of river Ganga in Nadia district, 22 km south of Murshidabad .
In this war, the British East India Company and the royal army of Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah of Bengal on the other side defeated the royal army of Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah under Robert Clive and established their control over the whole of Bengal thus under the British. The first region of India to come was Bengal.
Tax system :-
After the victory over Bengal, the British made a system of collecting tax.
There were mainly three types of tax system prevalent during the British period.
- (1) Isthmari settlement (zamindari system, permanent settlement) (1793): - Permanent settlement was implemented in about 19% of the land area of Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, Uttar Pradesh, Banaras, North Karnataka.
- (2) Ryotwari system (1792) :- This system was implemented in the provinces of Assam Madras Mumbai. Which was 51% of the land of colonial India.
- (3) Mahalwari system (1822): - This system was implemented in the Central Provinces of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Which was 30% of the land of its colonial India.
Isthmari settlement (zamindari system, permanent settlement) :-
Colonial rule in India was first established in Bengal. This was the province where the first efforts were made to rearrange the rural society and establish a new system of land rights and a new revenue system.
In 1793, the Isthmari Settlement was implemented with the Rajas and Talukdars of Bengal. Cornwallis was the Governor General at that time. These were called zamindars and their task was to collect a fixed tax from the farmers forever. It was also called the sunset method.
The East India Company had fixed the amount of revenue. Which every landlord had to pay. The estates of the zamindars who could not pay their fixed amount were auctioned to collect revenue from them.
After the implementation of the Isthmari Settlement , more than 75% of the Zamindariyas were transferred.
Objectives of implementing the Isthmari Settlement:-
The British Company implemented the Isthmari settlement system with the Nawab Rajas and Talukdars of Bengal to fulfill its many objectives.
Accordingly, the company can get the amount of temporary revenue regularly.
To remove trouble at the time of Bengal conquest.
In 1770, the rural economic system of Bengal was facing a pathetic and distressing situation.
Due to the full frequency of famine conditions, agriculture was being destroyed and trade was on the way to decline.
In the absence of agricultural investment, there was a sense of revenue resource in the area to encourage agricultural investment.
In this system of the company, the zamindars were not made landowners but tax collectors. The company gave them a chance to become their loyalist, but this company gradually controlled and limited the governance and functioning under its control.
The company made such a system that their special powers, military officers, local judicial powers and customs officers were abolished.
Benefits to Zamindars from Permanent Settlement:-
The zamindars became the real owners of the land and their right became hereditary.
The zamindars started helping the British to consolidate their roots in India.
When the zamindars became the owners of the land, they started taking interest in agriculture and there was a huge increase in production in India, due to which the British started getting more money in getting revenue, which also benefited the Indian zamindars.
The company started getting fixed income every year.
The hassle of setting the rates of rent again and again ended.
The company no longer needed the officers to collect the rent and the zamindars themselves collected the money and sent it to the company.
Bad effects of permanent settlement on farmers :-
The peasants were left at the mercy of the landlords.
The zamindars started exploiting the farmers mercilessly.
The farmers did not have any right on the land, they remained only as laborers on the land.
The rates of rent were very high, due to which he became poor day by day.
The farmers were left with no legal right to save their land.
Economic and social exploitation increased in the society, due to which the farmers became poor and the landlords became rich.
Why were the zamindars unable to pay the revenue on time? And why their lands were made sapphire?
The Isthmari Settlement was implemented in North Bengal in 1793, after the implementation of this system, many zamindaris started being auctioned, due to the following reasons.
The amount of rent in the permanent settlement was very high and the properties of the king who could not pay the rent were auctioned.
The zamindars did not pay any attention to land reforms, due to which they were negligent in depositing the land swaraj, due to which their arrears increased. Company officials used to auction their land to recover Swaraj.
The rates and demands of revenue were kept very high as the government thought that the revenue demands could not be increased later.
The amount of revenue remained the same, but sometimes due to drought, famine or excessive rainfall, the crops were ruined but the revenue remained the same. Which became very difficult to repay in adverse circumstances.
Control over the powers of Zamindars:-
The troops of the zamindars were disbanded.
The customs duty which was levied by the zamindars was abolished which benefitted the zamindars.
His courts were placed under the supervision of collectors selected by the companies.
The authority of the local police was abolished, using which the zamindars used to run the administration.
With the passage of time, the collector started doing all the administrative work. If the zamindar could not pay once, the collector used to issue summons immediately.
Status of Zamindar at the time of East India Company :-
According to the Permanent Settlement of 1793, the land of the landlord who could not deposit the fixed amount of land tax was auctioned.
More than 75% of the Zamindari had lost their land due to this system of auction .
According to this, the zamindars had to deposit certain land tax, thus the zamindars became the only collectors of land tax.
The reasons for the decline in the position of the landlords?
The amount of revenue was very high, the zamindars could not deposit it, so their land was auctioned due to which they had to bear the loss.
The prices of agricultural produce were low, due to which the zamindars could not collect the prescribed tax from the farmers.
Revenue had to be deposited even if the crop was damaged, due to which the landlords either had to bear the loss or their land was auctioned.
For non-receipt of taxes from the farmers, the zamindars could do nothing except sue them and they would suffer losses due to protracted proceedings.
Why did the zamindars fail to pay the revenue amount?
- Famine of 1770.
- The rates of the amount of revenue were fixed in 1793 keeping in mind the future, which was very high.
- The rates of revenue were fixed, whether the crop was bad or good, they could never be changed.
- The rates of rent were entered keeping in view the future.
- The rates of revenue were very high.
- Time used to be very sufficient to pay the revenue, for this the sun setting method was used.
- In many places it was not clear who would collect the rent i.e. talukdar, zamindar or collector and in some places all three were not there.
- The rich farmers used to raise the landlords to pay the rent to the small farmers so that the farmers could not pay the rent any further.
Sunset Method:
According to this method, if the zamindars could not pay their revenue by sunset on the specified date, the value of the tax was doubled and in many cases the property of the zamindars was also auctioned.
Talukdar :-
Talukdar is made up of two words first taluka which means district and dar which means owner thus talukdar was called a person whose main function was to collect revenue from 1 district.
Ryot :-
Ryot means farmer, this word was used by the British. In Bengal, the Ryots did not plow the land themselves, but further used to get the landless farmers plowed by leasing them to the landless farmers.
Event of an auction held in Burdwan :-
As per the British Company, property was not taken from women, due to which the king of Burdwan gave some part of his land to his mother's name and did not pay the revenue. As a result, the amount of revenue increased, the auction of their land was started by the company, then the landlord's own people bought it by bidding high.
Later, the company official refused to give the amount. Forced, the officials again started the process of auction where the people of the king again started the above process and their repetition finally when the bidders got tired, the land had to be sold to the king of Bardman at a low price.
Thus , between 1793-1801 , one of the four big zamindars of Bengal auctioned the land of Bardman, in which a lot of benami purchases took place. Where more than 95% were fake sales .
How did the zamindars save their property from being auctioned off?
The zamindars used to save their land from being auctioned by fraudulent sale.
The zamindars used to give their lands to the women of the household as women's properties could not be auctioned through the Isthmari Settlement Act.
The zamindars used to do manipulations with the auction agents.
The zamindars used to influence the auction by asking their men to bid much higher than the others.
The zamindars did not allow other people to take possession of their auction land.
The Latiyal class used to beat and drive away the new buyers.
Many times outsiders were not allowed to enter the properties of the old ryots zamindars. By the beginning of the 1790s, the zamindars were well off.
Fifth Report :-
In 1813 the East India Company presented the fifth report to the British Parliament, in which a total of 1002 pages were included in the applications of more than 800 landlords and peasants. Started watching closely.
Features of the Fifth Report:-
Opposition to the Company's monopoly in India in England.
Intervention of other political parties in England.
Attraction of private traders to Indian markets.
Allegations of maladministration and corruption against the company.
The Fifth Report became the basis for the debate on the rule of the Company in England.
The British Parliament passed the Regulating Act in 1773 to curb the Company, the Parliament obliged the Company to send its reports regularly.
Criticism of the Fifth Report:
The Fifth Report was one such report that gave rise to a serious debate in the British Parliament regarding the rule of the East India Company in India.
The Company's rule in Bengal was exposed in this report and the decline of the zamindars was described, although the zamindars used to save their land by adopting new tricks by their agents at the time of auction, but the fifth report raised a lot of controversy.
The British Parliament decided to establish its control over the Company due to the pressure of opposition from British merchants against the Company.
Ryotwari System :-
This system was first implemented in the Bar-Mahal district of Madras Presidency in 1792. After the introduction of this system, it was used by Captain Munro in the year 1820 throughout Madras, under this there was a direct relationship between the company and the ryots. There was no role of any Zamindars or middlemen in the determination of revenue and in collection of rent.
Each farmer was recognized as the owner of the land by Captain Rid and Munro. He will give the revenue directly to the company. He could not be deprived of his rights and had to give land for non-payment of tax.
At the end of the period of this arrangement, the rent was fixed again. But from a practical point of view, the basis for estimation of revenue was estimation which was sometimes difficult for the farmer to pay due to the demand of increased revenue amount when the produce came in handy. This system lasted for 30 years, where in 1820 it was implemented in areas where no land survey had been done.
By not giving land to the ryots as per their wish, the company officials started getting them to come and work in the fields and also increased the land tax due to which the farmers used to take loan by pledging their land with the moneylender. Where they fell into the trap of indebtedness, if the peasants could not pay the tax, their land was snatched away and the company officials used to oppress the ryots to collect the revenue.
Effect of Ryotwari system in Madras :-
This system proved harmful for the farmers.
This led to a decline in the rural economy.
The farmers fell into the trap of poor and debt-ridden.
Due to this arrangement, about 1,80,000,000 acres of land in Madras was left fallow.
Due to this arrangement, the condition of agriculture also deteriorated significantly.
Ryotwari Settlement System in Mumbai :-
From 1819 to 1827, the governor of Mumbai was Elphinstone. Who subjugated the Peshwa's states in 1818 AD, after that he implemented the Ryotwari settlement there.
At the same time, till 1824-28, an officer named Pingal did a survey of the land and he determined that the yield of the land was 55% because due to this survey being wrong, the estimation of the yield was not correct. Due to the fixed tax on the land, many farmers stopped the land scheme, due to which many areas became barren.
Mahalwari System :-
In 1822 AD, it was implemented in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh by Lord Wellesley. According to this tax system, the zamindar had to pay fixed revenue and kept the rest with himself.
Note:- Mahalwadi is made up of Mahal and Wadi where Mahal means village representative or zamindar or who had more land.
Under this system the task of collecting the revenue amount could be given to the muqaddam head, a big ryot. Who used to collect the revenue to the government and pay the tax of the entire land.
Effects of Mahalwari System :-
Due to this arrangement, the condition of the rural zamindars declined.
Due to being caught in the revenue trap by the company, he could not pay the rate of revenue, as a result his land was snatched by the company.
Landlords and farmers became laborers due to non-fulfillment of the amount of revenue.
During the times of poverty, famine and recession, there is a lot of anger due to the deterioration in the condition of the farmers and landlords, this anger later emerges in the form of the Revolt of 1857.
Hill people:
The hill people lived around the hills of the palace. The hills of the palace are present inside present-day West Bengal. According to Buchanan, these hills seemed impenetrable and the travelers were also afraid to go there, their behavior was hostile towards other people, their way of life was of the following
- They depended on the produce of the forest and used to do jhum cultivation.
- The hill people used to collect wood from the forest to make mahua flowers, silk, red cut coal, to eat.
- He used to use small plants under the trees as pasture for animals.
- At the time of Abha period, people used to attack places to establish peace, then today there used to be a tax which was hill people.
- Cleaning the land and setting fire to the bushes or using its ashes as manure.
- As the forests became extinct and the cultivable land increased, their life became difficult, their area became smaller and their way of life was destroyed.
- To make the land fertile, he used to leave the land vacant for some time as food crops.
Arrival of Santhals :-
In the decade of the 18th century, the problem that did not emerge before the Pahariya people was the arrival of the Santhals.
These Santhals used to cultivate rice and cotton by cultivating the land.
They used to cut down the forests and get timber. These Santhals had settled on the lower areas of the palace. So the Paharia people living in the area had to go further back as did both the tribes.
Both used to do Jhum cultivation agriculture, but the difference was that the Pahadia people used hoe for farming while the Santhals used plough. There was a struggle between the Santhals and the Paharias for a long time.
Settlement of Santhals :-
At first the company officials turned their attention to the Santhals whom they had invited to clear the forest on the hills of the palace. Because these Santhals used to do permanent agriculture and also used to run plows. In 1832 AD, the company gave a large area "Damin-e Koh" to settle in the lower part of the Rajmahal hills . By declaring this place as the land of the Santhals, the boundaries of the story were demarcated.
Santhal Rebellion :-
When the government officials, landlords, traders were oppressed and exploited, against which the Santhals started a rebellion, it was called the Santhal rebellion.
This rebellion started from 1855 to 1846 , which was led by Sidhu and Kanhu .
Under this rebellion, the governments looted the houses of the landlords, snatched the mines, the government officials started their repression by beating them to suppress this rebellion. Due to which the revolting Santhals became more fierce.
The Santhals considered Sidhu and Kanhu to be messengers sent by God and they believed that it would free them from their exploitation. The Santhals gathered with weapons, arrows, spears, axes, etc. and presented three demands with threats from the British and the landlords:
- 1. Their exploitation should be stopped.
- 2. Their land should be returned.
- 3. They should be allowed to lead an independent life.
Due to the Company ignoring these warnings, the Santhals started armed rebellion against the landlords, moneylenders.
Suppression of rebellion :-
When the Santhal rebellion spread at a very fast pace, then the non-Santhals of the lower class along with the Santhals took an active part in this rebellion. But on the contrary, because the company had more modern weapons, they suppressed this rebellion. After this rebellion, to satisfy the Santhals, the British officer implemented some special laws. The Santhal Pargana was rebuilt, under which there was an area of 5500 square mills. In which Bhagalpur and Birbhum were part of the district.
Francis Buchanan :-
Francis Buchanan's important contribution to all the important evidence of Indian description as we know it was. Which gives information about that time (1794-1815).
Francis Buchanan was neither a historian nor a service officer, yet his descriptions are a good source of history at that time. He was a good doctor. For some time he worked as Wellesley's surgeon. He established a zoo in Kolkata which later became famous as Alipore Zoo. He was also in charge of Botany for some time.
Later, on the request of the Bengal government, survey of the land belonging to the jurisdiction of the company was also done. In 1805 he fell ill and returned to Britain. Francis Buchanan became heir to the estate after his mother's death. He adopted his mother's lineage name Hamilton, and Francis Buchanan was called Buchanan Hamilton.
Deccan Riots :-
On May 12, 1875 , this movement took place in Supa Namak village of Pune district , in this revolt the ryots of Supa village together expressed their indignation against the moneylenders.
The accounts of moneylenders were burnt by the farmers, their houses were set on fire, grain shops were looted.
Deccan Riot Commission (1875) :-
This rebellion was like the rebellion of 1857. Therefore, pressure was put on the government from Mumbai by the officials of the East India Company to get the matter investigated. The Bombay government set up a commission to inquire into the Deccan rebellion in 1875.
The report prepared after investigation was sent to Parliament in 1875. In this report, atrocities and dissatisfaction among ryots, statements of ryots and creditors, prices of land revenue and reports sent by the district collector and petitions of ryots have been compiled. Which provides special information about this rebellion for the historians.
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History – Themes
in Indian History |
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Pol
Science – Contemporary World Politics |
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– Politics
in India since Independence |
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Geography – Indian
People and Economy |
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– Fundamental of Human Geography |
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Chapter 1: - Population: Distribution, Density, Growth
and Composition |
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Chapter 12: - Geographical Perspective on Selected
Issues and Problems |
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