Approval of Permanent Settlement Act

The Pitts India Act of 1784 directed the Calcutta authorities to enact permanent laws by
introducing a permanent land system only with zamindars because the oppression of the ryots
didn't reduce on the policy of Quinquennial or annual revenue settlement. Lord Cornwallis was
appointed Governor-General of Bengal in 1786, with a specific order to enact permanent
legislation mentioned in Pitt’s India Act. Cornwallis was a landowner. The British Parliament was
also dominated by landlords. Since the introduction of Quinquennial and annual land revenue
settlement during Hastings's period, both the government and the ryot have suffered. So Lord
Cornwallis wanted to enact a permanent law on land management under the Pitt's India Act-
1784. But the perpetual law that Cornwallis enacted did not fall under either Mughal law or
Pitt's rule of India. It was the British model. Before making a permanent settlement in 1793,
Cornwallis made a ten-year settlement with the Indian zamindars in 1789-90 and declared if the
Court of Directors approved the permanent settlement, the ten-year settlement would be
permanent.

Provisions of Permanent Settlement Act:

 According to the Permanent Settlement Act, the zamindars will be the permanent
ownersof the land and the ryots will be the tenants. As the owner, the zamindar can do
any work related to the land, without the consent of the government.
 The permission of the government is not required to determine the liability of the
zamindar with the tenant.
 The revenue earmarked in the Decade Settlement will not change. The revenue
installment of the zamindars i.e. 89% of the annual income to the state and 11% of the
income as the share of the zamindar has to be paid regularly, otherwise the arrears of
revenue will be collected by selling the land at auction.
 As regional elite, the zamindars were deprived of their former feudal power.

Purposes of Permanent Settlement Act:

 If the permanent settlement is implemented, the zamindars will invest in the land.
 The zamindar will use his surplus money for the development of the land for his own
benefit. So, agricultural production will increase and the country's economy will be
prosperous.
 There will be an agricultural revolution in Bangladesh under the leadership of
zamindars,like England. The zamindar society will remain loyal to the British
government.
 The British government would establish a political base in India through the zamindar
class as the social ruler.
 Merits of Permanent Settlement Act

Fixed Revenue System:

According to the Permanent Settlement Act, the government didn’t have to face the problem of
determining revenue every year. The state earned a stable income from the zamindars. If the
zamindars didn’t pay the revenue, the loss was made good by selling a portion of the land of
the Zamindars.

Benefits of Government: The income of the company became fixed and the government got
the benefit of taking necessary measures and executing the expenses.

Development of Agriculture: The zamindars arranged for cultivation on different lands to

increase the production of their land. Besides, the zamindars introduced new methods of
agriculture such as fertilizer application, crop rotation etc. The increase in agricultural
production affected economy and trade of the country. The province of Bengal became the
richest and most prosperous state.

Development for Tenants: Wealthy zamindars dug canals and ponds and set up schools and
hospitals for the betterment of the people. Besides, due to heavy rains and drought, they
arranged for lending to the tenants due to famine.

Political Support: The ownership of the land by the zamindars resulted in the formation of a
group of zamindars loyal to the British who remained loyal to the British until the Sepoy Mutiny
of 1857.

Development of Bengal: The economic prosperity of Bengal helped the rise of art, literature
and education of Bengal.

Demerits of Permanent Settlement Act

In the permanent settlement act, the amount of demerits is more than merits and turned into a
machine of exploitation and affected the interests of the Zamindars, cultivators and the
company alike. The interests of the zamindars are mainly protected through permanent
settlement. They gradually became the rich class. But on the other hand the old ownership of
the land was completely abolished. As a result, the zamindars could evict them from the land at
any time if they wished. In the beginning, as there was no tenancy law, they depended entirely
on the mercy of the landlord for their fate.
Litigation: As the permanent settlement was suddenly introduced the land was not divided
through proper survey. In many zamindari less revenue became levied and more revenue is
levied on tax-free land. The zamindars started filing numerous cases against each other for
demarcation of land.

Destruction of Native Industry: This act became one of the reasons for the destruction of the
native cottage industries. In 1793, Lord Cornwallis sent a letter to the directors of the East India
Company stating that they would spend the huge amount of capital available in the country for
the purpose of purchasing land without any other means of employment.

The Misery of the Farmers: It didn’t bring any improvement to the tenants and peasants. The
old ownership of the land was abolished forever, they lost ownership of the land. The
zamindars used to oppress in various ways and could evict the farmers at any time if they
wished. Farmers did not get proper remuneration even after working hard. As a result, the
people became inattentive in agriculture. Later, the Tenancy Act was enacted to protect the
tenants from the oppression of the zamindars.

The Miserable Condition of the Rural Economy: After being convinced of the rights and income
of the zamindari, the zamindars left the village and settled in the town, leaving the
responsibility to the naib gomastas. As a result, a kind of stagnation can be noticed in rural life.
Due to this the economic condition of the village is getting worse day by day.

Sunset Act: As the Sunset Act, zamindars had to be paid rent by sunset on a certain date. Due
to the strictness of this provision, many large zamindari were wiped out. Many zamindars lost
their zamindari due to non-payment of rent on time.

The Miserable Condition of Muslims: The Muslims of Bengal suffered the most. Gradually the
responsibilities of the revenue and administration department passed from them to the English
collectors.

Destruction of industry and commerce: By recruiting money in land, there is a possibility of

earning income without any effort. Industry and commerce are abandoned in the hope of
gaining wealth and status by investing money in land. As a result, many people who owned a lot
of money by doing business with the company, bought zamindari and became preoccupied with
the status of aristocracy. As a result, the possibility of developing indigenous capital and
indigenous industries was destroyed.

Social Rebellion: The oppression of the zamindars to the peasants was unimaginable. This led
to mass discontent in the social sphere. Numerous peasant revolts began. That ended with
horrible bleeding.
Formation of Zamindar Sangha: After the peasants organized revolts against the zamindars, the
zamindars formed zamindar sanghas through communication with each other to suppress it.

Tangle of cases: Since the establishment of the Calcutta High Court in 1862, there were 14 lakh
cases a year in India, of which 5 lakh were in Bengal.

Reasons for Failure of the Permanent Settlement Act

The implementation of permanent settlement has resulted in more disadvantages than benefits
in the society. It created the feudalism at the top and serfdom at the bottom. The permanent
settlement was later canceled due to the inconvenience caused to the society.

1. The permanent settlement did not determine the exact revenue on the land due to lack
of survey. Therefore, the lands affected by the wealthy revenue were sold at auction
under the sunset law as they could not pay the revenue on time. During the permanent
settlement there were six large zamindari in Bengal such as Zamindari of Burdwan,
Zamindari of Natore, Zamindari of Dinajpur, Zamindari of Nadia, Zamindari of Birbhum
and Zamindari of Bishnupur. Within the first seven years of the permanent settlement,
all the zamindari except Burdwan was sold at auction under the Sunset Act.
2. According to the system the zamindars improved. The zamindars living in the city
distributed the responsibility of zamindari under the Naib-Gomstar severed. The direct
relationship with the peasants and zamindars were torned. The peasants were
oppressed.
3. The zamindars were the owner of the land and the ryots were the tenants. So the ryots
lost their land. And the tenancy law was slowly disappearing.
4. Zamindars cultivated cash crops on agricultural land for economic development. As a
result, agriculture expanded in Bengal but did not improve.
5. The main reason is Lord Cornwallis formulated the permanent settlement in Bengal on
the basis of the social system of England. So it didn’t succeed in Bengal.