Ruling The Countryside

Questions and Answers

1. How was the mahalwari system different from the permanent system?
2. Differentiate between Nij cultivation and Ryoti cultivation of indigo.
3. How can we say that the Company encouraged planters to come from Europe to India to cultivate indigo?
4. Why did the indigo peasants decide that they would no longer remain silent?
5. What were the circumstances which led to the eventual collapse of indigo cultivation in Bengal?
6. What led to the cultivation of cash crops in India?
 Q.1 How was the mahalwari system different from the
permanent system?

Mahalwari System Permanent System

• Holt Mackenzie introduced the Mahalwari • Lord Cornwallis introduced the Permanent
Settlement Settlement .
• It was introduced in the North Western • It was introduced in Bengal.
Provinces of the Bengal Presidency (most of • The settlement was between the zamindars and
this area is now in Uttar Pradesh), the EEIC
• The settlement was between the village or • The Settlement would be permanent and
Mahal headman and the EEIC. collection of Revenue and Zamindari rights
• Collectors went from village to village, would be permanent
inspecting the land, measuring the fields. • By the terms of the Permanent Settlement , the
• The estimated revenue of each plot within a rajas and taluqdars were recognised as
zamindars.
village was added up to calculate the revenue
that each village (mahal) had to pay. • They were asked to collect rent from the
peasants and pay revenue to the Company.
• This demand was to be revised periodically,
not permanently fixed. • The revenue demand of the state would not be
increased as it was fixed permanently.
• The charge of collecting the revenue and
paying it to the Company was given to the
village headman, rather than the zamindar.
• The revenue was to be revised periodically
Q. 2 Differentiate between Nij cultivation and Ryoti cultivation of
indigo.

• Within the system of nij cultivation of • In ryoti system of indigo cultivation the
indigo, the planter produced indigo in planters forced the ryots to sign a
lands that he directly controlled. contract, an agreement (satta).
• At times they pressurised the village
headmen to sign the contract on behalf of
• He either bought the land or rented it from the ryots.
other zamindars and produced indigo by • Those who signed the contract got cash
directly employing hired labourers. advances from the planters at low rates of
interest to produce indigo.
• Nij cultivation also required many ploughs • But the loan committed the ryot to
and bullocks on a large scale that he had cultivating indigo on at least 25 per cent of
to rent from the farmers. the area under his holding
• The planter provided the seed and the
drill, while the cultivators prepared the
• The planter had to make heavy soil, sowed the seed and looked after the
investments ,on land ,on seeds, labour crop.
and agricultural equipment. Often this • When the crop was delivered to the
was done with the help of loans. planter after the harvest, a new loan was
• He was dependent on the ryot to cultivate given to the ryot, and the cycle started all
his lands. over again.
Q 3. How can we say that the Company encouraged planters to
come from Europe to India to cultivate indigo?
• Numerous Scotsmen and Englishmen came to India as they were attracted
by the prospect of high profits,and became planters.
• To encourage people to come to India , soft loans were offered from the
company & the banks that were coming up at the time to the Englishmen and
Europeans.

Q4.Why did the indigo peasants decide that they would no longer remain
silent?

• The indigo farmer had suffered immensely. He worked very hard ,as indigo

cultivation was labour intensive but got no returns.

• His land turned infertile due to the indigo crop and he could not cultivate it.

• He was forced to honour a contract that he had not signed.

• Actually he had no option but to rebel and stop suffering silently.

Q. 5 What were the circumstances which led to the
eventual collapse of indigo cultivation in Bengal?
Ans
• In March 1859 thousands of ryots in Bengal refused to grow
indigo.
• As the rebellion spread, ryots refused to pay rents to the
planters, and attacked indigo factories armed with swords and
spears, bows and arrows.
• Ryots swore they would no longer take advances to sow indigo
nor be bullied by the planter’s lathiyals – the lathi-wielding
strongmen maintained by the planters.
• Worried by the rebellion, the government set up the Indigo
Commission to enquire into the system of indigo production.
• The Commission held the planters guilty, and criticised them for
the coercive methods they used with indigo cultivators.
• The Commission told the ryots could refuse to produce indigo in
future.
• After the revolt, indigo production collapsed in Bengal.
Q.6 What led to the cultivation of cash crops in India?

• Once the British realised that the countryside could not only
yield revenue, it could also grow the crops that Europe
required, the Company was trying its best to expand the
cultivation of cash crops like opium and indigo.

• By the late eighteenth century and a half that followed, the

British persuaded or forced cultivators in various parts of India
to produce other crops.
Q6 All the three land revenue systems were oppressive in
nature and were responsible for the plight of the peasants.
Discuss.
Ans
•Driven by the desire to increase the income from land, revenue
officials fixed a very high revenue demand.
•The cultivator found the system extremely oppressive. Even in the
ryotwari system it was hoped that there would be no middlemen
oppressing the peasant but the Company officials took the place
of the Zamindars and oppressed the ryots.
•When the Peasants were unable to pay rent, he was evicted from
the land that he had cultivated for generations.
•To pay the rent or revenue, he had to often take a loan from the
money lender at a high rate of interest.
•Very often he had to sell a part of the land to the money lender.
Land thus became a saleable commodity.
• Zamindar nor the EEIC helped to make improvement in land
•Peasants fled the countryside, and villages became deserted in
many regions.
Q 7.Explain in detail what led to the famine in Bengal.
• The Company had become the Diwan, but it still saw itself primarily
as a trader.
• It wanted a large revenue income but was unwilling to set up any
regular system of assessment and collection.
• This led to the exploitation of the farmer.
• Artisanal production declined and agricultural cultivation showed
collapsed.
• No effort was made to improve agriculture or improve the plight of
weavers.
• Famines in British India were not due to lack of food, but by
inadequate food supply as peasants simply had no access to food .
Q8.Discuss the implication of the Diwani on the
Company after the ‘Treaty of Allahabad’.
• As Diwan, the Company became the chief financial
administrator of the territory under its control.
• Now it had to administer the land and organise its
revenue resources.
• The revenue had to enough so that it would meet the
growing expenses of the company.
• Those who had held local power would help in the
collection of revenue so they to be controlled .
 Q9. Give two problems which arose with the new Munro
system of fixing revenue?
Ans.
Two problems which arose with the new Munro system of fixing revenue
were
• Munro thought that the British should act as paternal father figures
protecting the ryots under their charge.
• However, driven by the desire to increase the income from land, revenue
officials fixed too high a revenue demand for the farmers to pay.
• Peasants were unable to pay, ryots fled the countryside, and villages
became deserted in many regions
Q10 All the three land revenue systems were oppressive in nature and were responsible for the
plight of the peasants. Discuss.
Ans
• Driven by the desire to increase the income from land, revenue officials
fixed a very high revenue demand.
• The cultivator found the system extremely oppressive. Even in the ryotwari
system it was hoped that there would be no middlemen oppressing the
peasant but the Company officials took the place of the Zamindars and
oppressed the ryots.
• When the Peasants were unable to pay rent, he was evicted from the land
that he had cultivated for generations.
• To pay the rent or revenue, he had to often take a loan from the money
lender at a high rate of interest.
• Very often he had to sell a part of the land to the money lender. Land thus
became a saleable commodity.
• Zamindar nor the EEIC helped to make improvement in land
• Peasants fled the countryside, and villages became deserted in many
regions.
 Q11Explain what led to the increase in the cultivation of
Indian indigo?

• By the end of the eighteenth century, the demand for Indian indigo grew .
• Britain began to industrialise, and its cotton production expanded
dramatically, creating an enormous new demand for cloth dyes.
• A number of European countries began to grow indigo in their tropical
colonies.
• While the demand for indigo increased, its existing supplies from the West
Indies and America collapsed for a variety of reasons and the production
of indigo in the world fell by half.
• Cloth dyers in Britain now desperately looked for new sources of indigo
supply.
• Faced with the rising demand for indigo in Europe, the Company in India
looked for ways to expand the area under indigo cultivation.
• Bengal indigo came to dominate the world market.
Q. 12 Describe the process to manufacture indigo.
•After harvest, the indigo plant was taken to the vats in the indigo factory.
• Three or four vats were needed to manufacture the dye. Each vat had a separate
function.
•The leaves stripped off the indigo plant were first soaked in warm water in a vat
(known as the fermenting or steeper vat) for several hours.
•When the plants fermented, the liquid began to boil and bubble. Now the rotten
leaves were taken out and the liquid drained into another vat that was placed just
below the first vat.
•In the second vat (known as the beater vat) the solution was continuously stirred
and beaten with paddles.
•When the liquid gradually turned green and then blue, lime water was added to
the vat.
• Gradually the indigo separated out in flakes, a muddy sediment settled at the
bottom of the vat and a clear liquid rose to the surface.
• The liquid was drained off and the sediment – the indigo pulp – transferred to
another vat (known as the settling vat), and then pressed and dried for sale.
Q. 13 Describe the indigo rebellion.
• In March 1859 thousands of ryots in Bengal refused to grow indigo.
• As the rebellion spread, ryots refused to pay rents to the planters, and attacked
indigo factories armed with swords and spears, bows and arrows.
• Women turned up to fight with pots, pans and kitchen implements.
• Those who worked for the planters were socially boycotted
• The gomasthas – agents of planters – who came to collect rent were beaten up.
• Ryots swore they would no longer take advances to sow indigo nor be bullied by the
planters’ lathiyals – the lathi-wielding strongmen maintained by the planters.
• The ryots were supported by the local zamindars and village headmen in their
rebellion against the planters.
• The ryots felt that there was sympathy of the government for their plight.
• Intellectuals from Calcutta rushed to the indigo districts. They wrote of the misery of
the ryots, the tyranny of the planters, and the horrors of the indigo system.
• Worried by the rebellion, the government brought in the military to protect the
planters from assault, and set up the Indigo Commission to enquire into the system
of indigo production
• The Commission held the planters guilty, and criticised them for the coercive
methods they used with indigo cultivators.
Q4. Describe the main features of the Permanent
Settlement?
Ans. By the terms of the Permanent Settlement, the rajas and
taluqdars were recognised as zamindars.
• They were asked to collect rent from the peasants and pay
revenue to the Company.
• The amount to be paid was fixed permanently, that is, it was not
to be increased ever in future.
• Since the revenue demand of the state would not be
increased, the zamindar would benefit from increased production
from the land.
• The Zamindar was expected to invest in the improvement of the
land.