Chapter 3: Ruling the Countryside
1765: Company granted diwani of Bengal.
Diwani means company became chief financial administrator of the territory under
its control.
Revenue for the company:
The main ideology after becoming the Diwan was to increase the revenue as much a
s it could and buy fine cotton and silk for as cheaply as possible.
This revenue financed company s purchase of goods for export. Due to this policy
artisans had to leave their villages as they had to sell for cheap prices & agri
cultural production was on decline.
1770: famine strikes in Bengal killing Millions
The need to improve agriculture and investment in land was felt by the company o
fficials as the revenues depended on these very factors. So, Permanent Settlemen
t was introduced in 1793 by the company.
Under this, rajas and taluqdars were recognised as zamindars and were asked to c
ollect rent from the peasants and pay fixed revenue to the company. This amount
was never to be changed in future so company thought it would encourage zamindar
s to improve quality of land as any increase in the revenue would directly go to
the zamindars.
Problem with permanent settlement:
The Rent fixed was too high and if not paid zamindar lost his zamindari. The con
ditions improved during 1st decade of 19th century as prices rose and agricultur
e slowly expanded but even then the zamindars were not interested in improving t
he land as long as they had their rent coming from the tenants & company couldn t
increase the revenue as it had fixed it permanently under the settlement.
Cultivator was oppressed as the rent was high and he was evicted if he didn t pay.
Mahal: A revenue estate consisting of a village of group of villages
A new system is devised:
Keeping in mind the ever increasing needs of the company the revenue had to be i
ncreased so a new system was devised in NW provinces of Bengal presidency by Hol
t Mackenzie which came into effect in 1822.
This new system came to be known as Mahalwari Settlement.
Mahalwari Settlement:
Under this system the estimated rent of each plot within the village was added u
p to calculate the revenue the village (mahal) had to pay.
-Village headman was given the charge of collecting the revenue
-The revenue was not fixed and was to be revised periodically.
The Munroe system:
In south India there was a move away from the Permanent Settlement. A new system
called as ryotwari or ryotwar system was devised. It was developed subsequently
by Thomas Munroe and gradually implemented to all over South India.
Under this the settlement was made directly with the cultivators or ryots as tra
ditional zamindari system was not present in South India.
Problem: The demand of revenue fixed by officials was very high and ryots fled t
he countryside leaving the villages deserted.
Crops for Europe:
The British realized that countryside could be utilized to grow crops required i
n Europe. They forced cultivators to grow crops like,
1). Jute (Bengal)
2). Sugarcane (United provinces now UP)
3).
4).
5).
6).
Tea in Assam
Wheat in Punjab
Cotton in Maharashtra and Punjab
Rice in Madras
Demand for Indigo:
India wa s the largest producer of Indigo and in 13th century Indian indigo was
used in Italy, france and Britain. However, only small maounts of indigo reached
European markets and its price was too high so manufacturers depended on anothe
r source namely woad but it produced a pale dull colour as compared to Indigo.
As demand for indigo increased French began its cultivation in St. Dominique in
Caribbean islands, English in Jamaica, Portuguese in Brazil and Spanish in Venez
uela. Indigo plantations also came up in North America.
Slave Revolt:
There was a slave revolt in St. Dominique in 1791 & French abolished slavery in
French colonies in 1792. These events led to collapse of Indigo plantations on C
aribbean islands.
By the end of 18th century the supply of Indigo collapsed from West Indies and N
orth America. During 1783
1789 the supply of Indigo worldwide decreased to half.
At the same time the demand of Indigo increased due to Britain s industrializatio
n and expanded cotton production. Hence, cloth dyers in Britain were in desperat
e need of indigo.
For this British turned their attention towards India.
By the 1st decade of 18th century around 1810 Indigo from India formed 95% of in
digo exported to Britain.
Bengal became the centre of Indigo cultivation.
