GA Notes:”REVENUE ADMINISTRATION OF THE BRITISH” For RRB JE & SSC Exams 2019

Dear Students,

General awareness is an important section that can help you get the maximum time You need not perform complex calculation to settle for the correct option so, it is the best to be ready with the facts and figures in advance. For RRB JE 2019, important awards, current affairs, history, geography, general science, economy and static GK is the main part.  To let you have an information about all important sections of GA, this post is to provide you with one of the important topics related to REVENUE ADMINISTRATION OF THE BRITISH. Grab the below given important points related to this particular topic. 

Till the 18th century, there was a strong relation between agriculture and cottage industries in India. India was not only ahead in the field of agriculture than most other countries but it also held a prominent place in the world in the field of handicraft production. The British destroyed handicraft industry in the country while unleashing far-reaching changes in the country’s agrarian structure by introducing new systems of land tenures and policies of revenue administration.
The British policies revolved around getting maximum income from land without caring much about Indian interests of the cultivators. They abandoned the age -old system of revenue administration and adopted in their place a ruthless policy of revenue collection.

After their advent, the British principally adopted three types of land tenures as follows-
a)Zamindari System or the Permanent Settlement
b)Mahalwari Settlement
c)The Ryotwari System

The Permanent Settlement-

• Zamindari System was introduced by Cornwallis in 1793 through Permanent Settlement Act.
• The Permanent Land Revenue Settlement introduced in Bengal, which was later extended to the provinces of Bihar and Orissa.
• The zamindars of Bengal were recognised as the owners of land as long as they paid the revenue to the East India Company regularly.
• The amount of revenue that the zamindars had to pay to the Company was firmly fixed and would not be raised under any circumstances.

Note:
Warren Hastings introduced the annual lease system of auctioning the land to the highest bidder. It created chaos in the revenue administration.

Ryotwari Settlement-

• Ryotwari System was introduced by Thomas Munro in 1820.
• The Ryotwari settlement was introduced mainly in Madras, Berar, Bombay and Assam.
• Under this settlement, the peasant was recognised as the proprietor of land.
• There was no intermediary like a Zamindar between the peasant and the government.
• The land revenue was fixed for a period from 20 to 40 years at a time.

Note:
Under this settlement it was certainly not possible to collect revenue in a systematic manner. The revenue officials indulged in harsh measures for non payment or delayed payment.

Mahalwari Settlement-

• Mahalwari system was introduced in 1833 during the period of William Bentick.
• It was introduced in Central Province, North-West Frontier, Agra, Punjab, Gangetic Valley, etc of British India.
• Under this system the basic unit of revenue settlement was the village or the Mahal.
• The entire land of the village was measured at the time of fixing the revenue.
• The responsibility of paying the revenue rested with the entire Mahal or the village community.

Note:
Though the Mahalwari system eliminated middlemen between the government and the village community and brought about improvement in irrigation facility, yet its benefit was largely enjoyed by the government.