UPSCPORTAL : "(Online Course) GS Concepts : Mordern Indian History - British Land Revenue Policy" plus 4 more

(Online Course) GS Concepts : Mordern Indian History - British Land Revenue Policy
(Online Course) Contemporary Issues for IAS Mains 2012:Social Issues - Eliminating Encephalitis
(Online Course) Contemporary Issues for IAS Mains 2012: India and The World - Prospects of India Becoming a Global Power
(Online Course) Contemporary Issues for IAS Mains 2012: India and The World - Indo-Pak Relations
(Online Course) Contemporary Issues for IAS Mains 2012: India and The World - Indian Ocean Realm

(Online Course) GS Concepts : Mordern Indian History - British Land Revenue Policy

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 11:13 PM PDT

Subject : Modern Indian History
Chapter : Economic Impact of The British

Topic: British Land Revenue Policy

Question : Briefly Discuss the British land revenue Policy?

Answer:

Revenues are an important source of every economy. The basic questions that go into collection and implementation of revenues can be summarized in terms of - How much to collect? Who will collect? When to collect? And how to collect? The land revenue policies followed during colonialism did not materialize overnight but were the results of two odd decades of debates- philosophical and ideological, and experiments.

In the pre-colonial days land relations and revenue administration in India were marked by several layers of more or less powerful intermediate local authorities positioned between the Central Government and the actual tillers of land. From the beginning the reach of the central authority had been rather narrow and based on collaboration with several allies- local rajas, landowners, zamindars and so on. The land revenue was collected from the peasants and sent to the centre through these several intermediate channels – zamindars, landlords, nawabs and so on, each of which kept aside their own share, leaving little for the peasants. It is also commonly believed that with the breakup of the Mughal Empire the number of intermediaries of extraction increased considerably leading to a decline in the conditions of the peasantry. In 1790, 12 'big zamindari houses together paid more than 53% of the revenue assessed in Bengal.

To this circle of powers was added the British, who had originally come to trade. The question of land revenue and the means to secure it was central to the interests of the British. The British acquisition of the revenues of Bengal did not start in one go. But it was a gradual process that started with a single territory and then after gaining diwani rights in 1765 extended over to the entire Presidency.

The land revenue system emerged as a consequence of experiments. Three main systems of land revenue emerged in different parts of British territory in India - Permanent Settlement (or Zarnindari), Ryotwari Settlement and Mahalwari Settlement. But whatever be the legitimising credo, the tax on the land saw a continuous increase. The revenue was exorbitant and left less than subsistence for the farmers.

Given the importance of the revenues, the task of organizing and administering the revenues was quite formidable yet imperative to the British But what complicated their task was their lack of knowledge of the agrarian system of India. They understood little about the land relations. Wherever they went they faced a confusing array, of quasi-feudal rights and obligations that were difficult to put in a concrete and identifiable terms. Apart from the lack of knowledge about the local dialects, the various rules and obligations were recorded only in memory and were considered as good as written ones. On the Government's behalf there was an absence of communication between different levels of administration and the ever present corruption of some of the officials in the early years of the Company's administration. Moreover, the tenure of the local officers was too short to permit them consistency in

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(Online Course) Contemporary Issues for IAS Mains 2012:Social Issues - Eliminating Encephalitis

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 11:01 PM PDT

Social Issues

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(Online Course) Contemporary Issues for IAS Mains 2012: India and The World - Prospects of India Becoming a Global Power

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 10:50 PM PDT

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(Online Course) Contemporary Issues for IAS Mains 2012: India and The World - Indo-Pak Relations

Posted: 10 Jul 2012 10:44 PM PDT

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