CHAPTER - 03 RULING THE COUNTRYSIDE
NOTES
On 12 August 1765, the Mughal emperor appointed the East India Company as the Diwan of Bengal.
As Diwan, the company became the chief financial administrator of the territory under its control.
The company came to colonise the countryside, organize revenue resources, redefine the rights of people and produce the crops it wanted.
Revenue for the Company:
- The company got the diwani rights and started extracting more and more revenure out of it and used various measures to get it but still saw itself primarily as a trader.
- Before 1865, the company purchased goods in India by importing gold and silver from Britain. Now the revenue collected in Bengal could financial the purchase of goods for exports.
- Bengal economy was facing a deep crisis. Peasants and craftmen were not getting the proper amount of their sell.
- In 1770, a terrible famine killed ten million people in Bengal. but no one gave attention to the plith of affected people as revenue was under the control of British and they did not pay heed to any of the matter related to peasents as their main task was to make money by trade.
The Need to Improve Agriculture:
- The company introduced Permanent Settlement in 1793 under the reign of Lord Cornwallis.
- Under Permanent Settlement, a fixed revenue was to be given to british and it would not increase in future.
- Zamindars were recognised as the collectors of revenue and it was assumed that they would invest money to improve the crop production and fertility of soil.
- Zamindars did not pay attention to the condition of land and tried to keep more and more money left after collection.
- The Rajas and taluqdars were recognized as Zamindars.
- As a result of greed for more revenue they blindly exploited the land resources.
The Problem:
- Numerous zamindaris were sold off at auctions organized by the company, as anyone who failed to pay the revenue lost his zamindari.
- The zamindars were not interested in the improvement of land which led to reduced production of crop.
- But with the rise in crop expansion and prices of crops in ninteenth centuary the income of britishers was not increasing. this concerned them alot.
- Because of the less revenue collection,British tried some other new method of revenue generation such as Mahalwari system and Ryotwari system.
A New System is Devised:
- By the early nineteenth centuary many of the company officials were convinced that the system of revenue had to be changed again because to get maximum profit.
- An Englishman, Holt Machenzie devised the new system which came into effect in 1822. This was introduced in North India and came to be known as Mahalwari settlement.
- Mahalwari system gave the revenure collection work to the village headman (Mahal) instead of zamindar and revenue was not fixed permanantly.
- Under this system the revenue was collected by Mahal and was given to British exchaqure.
- This system was initiated in central part of India.
The Munro System:
- In the British territories in the south, a new system was devised which was known as Ryotwar or Ryotwari.
- Ryotwari was intiated by Captain Alexander Read and Thomas Munro. This system was extended all over the south India.
- In this system, ryots were directly involved for the collectiion of revenue and it was fixed after the proper assement of individual land.
- British officials were appointed to collect the revenue and used coarcive methods for revenue collection.
All was Not Well:
- As they desired to increase the income from land, revenue officials fixed the revenue rate very high.
- As peasants were unable to pay, ryots filed the countryside and villages became deserted in many regions.
- Peasents were forcefully evicted from their lands and had to left their places and clashes happened at different places.
Crops for Europe:
- By the late eighteenth century the company was trying to expand the cultivation of opium and indigo, which was highly demanded in Europe.
- The Britishers forced cultivators to produce jute, tea, sugarcane, wheat, cotton and rice in various parts of India.
- Indigo was highly demanded in europe. To get the Indigo cultivation, the tinkathia system was introduced . Under this system peasents had to cultivate indigo on 3/20th part of their land.
- Because of the production of the cash crops and indigo which had to be grown on the most fertile land, the farmers were left with little fertile region to grow.
- These crops reduced the production of food crops.
Does Colour have a History:
- The rich blue colour was commonly called as Indigo and it was on a high demand in Europe as it was used for dyeing purpose.
- India was the biggest supplier of indigo in the world in 19th century
- Indigo cultivation was one of the reason for poor condition of farmers and led ryots in various farmers.
Why the Demand for Indian Indigo:
- By the thirteenth century Indian Indigo was being used by cloth manufacturers in Italy, France and Britain to dye cloth.
- Indigo produce a rich blue colour whereas the dye from woad another plant was pale and dull.
- Indigo plantations came up in many parts of North America and Mexico, but during the wars in these regions and abolition of slavery in Franch colonies, British started depending on India for the cultivation expantion of Indigo.
- Increased demand of indigo also came because of the heavy industrialisation in Britain.
- To fullfill the demand of Indigo British used their colonies in tropical region and mainly in Africa and India as the availaibility if land and cheap labour were available.
Britain turns to India:
- The company in India expanded the area under the indigo cultivation to meet the rising demand for indigo in Europe.
- As the indigo trade grew commercial agents and officials of the company began investing in indigo production.
· How was Indigo Cultivated: - There were two main system of Indigo cultivation: Nij and Ryoti.
- In Nij system, the planter produced indigo in lands that he directly controlled or rented from zamindars.
The Problem with Nij Cultivation:
- This cultivation needed fertile and big lands and it was difficult to get big areas as they were already highly populated. for this they had to evict population which led to conflicts.
- Nij cultivation on a large scale required many ploughs and bullocks, investing on purchase and maintenance of ploughs was a big problem. At the same time of its cultivation the cultivation of rice also took place, that is why ploughs were not available on rent too.
- Availability of labour was also a problem as peasants were engaged in rice cultivation at the same time.
Indigo on the Land of Ryots:
- In Ryoti system, the planters forced the ryots to sign a contract an agreement (satta).
- Those who signed the contract got cash advances from planters at low rates of interest to produce indigo.
- The peasants got very low price for the indigo they produced and the cycle of loans never ended.
- After an indigo harvest the land could not be sown with rice which the peasants preferred as Indigo production reduced the fertility of soil.
The ‘Blue Rebellion’ and after:
- 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.
- Ryots swore they would no longer take advances to sow indigo nor be bullied by the planters’ lathiyals.
- The government set up the indigo commission to enquire into the system of indigo production.
- It declared that indigo cultivation was not profitable for ryots. Hence they could refuse to produce indigo in future.
- After the revolt, indigo production collapsed in Bengal. The planters now shifted their operations to Bihar.
- In Bihar,the Champaran movement led by Gandhi ji in 1917, ended the Indigo production through tinkathia system.
EXERCISE
1. Match the following:
| ryot | village |
| mahal | peasant |
| nij | cultivation on ryot's lands |
| ryoti | cultivation on planter's own land |
Ans :
| ryot | peasant |
| mahal | village |
| nij | cultivation on planter's own land |
| ryoti | cultivation on ryot's lands |
2. Fill in the blanks:
(a) Growers of woad in Europe saw ______ as a crop which would provide competition to their earnings.
Ans : Growers of woad in Europe saw indigo as a crop which would provide competition to their earnings.
(b) The demand for indigo increased in late-eighteenth- century Britain because of ________.
Ans : The demand for indigo increased in the late-eighteenth-century Britain because of the expansion of cotton production as a result of industrialisation, which in turn created an enormous demand for cloth dyes.
(c) The international demand for indigo was affected by the discovery of __________.
Ans : The international demand for indigo was affected by the discovery of synthetic dyes.
(d) The Champaran movement was against __________.
Ans : The Champaran movement was against indigo planters.
3. Describe the main features of the Permanent Settlement.
Ans : In order to get a stable revenue income, most of the East India Company’s officials believed that investment in land had to be encouraged and agriculture had to be improved. This led to introduction of permanent settlement in 1793. The main features of the Permanent settlement were:
- The amount of revenue was fixed permanently, that is, it was not to be increased in ever in future.
- It was felt that this would ensure a regular flow of revenue into the Company’s coffers and at the same time encourage the zamindars to invest in improving the land.
- Since the revenue demand of the state would not be increased, the zamindar would benefit from increased production from the land.
- Under this system revenue had been fixed so high that the zamindars found it difficult to pay.
- Even when the income of zamindars increased with the expansion of cultivation, the company had no chance of gain because it could not increase a revenue demand that had been fixed permanently.
- The system proved oppressive for the cultivators.
4. How was the mahalwari system different from the Permanent Settlement?
Ans :
| Mahalwari Settlement | Permanent Settlement |
| The mahalwari system, devised by Holt Mackenzie, came into effect in 1822, in the North Western provinces of the Bengal Presidency. | The Permanent Settlement was introduced in 1793 by Lord Cornwallis. |
| It was devised as an alternative to the Permanent Settlement. | It was aimed at ensuring stable revenue for the East India Company. |
| The village headmen were in charge of collecting revenue. | The rajas and taluqdars were in charge of collecting revenue. |
| The revenue amount was not fixed, and was to be revised periodically. The estimated revenue of each plot within a village was added up to calculate the revenue that each village or mahal had to pay. | The revenue amount was fixed and was never to be increased in the future. |
5. 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:
- Driven by the desire to increase the income from land, revenue officials fixed too high a revenue demand.
- Peasants were unable to pay the revenue as the crop failed in the countryside and villages became deserted in many regions.
6. Why were ryots reluctant to grow indigo?
Ans : The ryots were reluctant to grow indigo because:
- The planters paid a very low price for indigo.
- The ryots were not in a position to even recover their cost, earning a profit was a far-fetched idea. This meant that the ryot was always under debt.
- The planters insisted that the peasants cultivate indigo on the most fertile parts of their land, but the peasants preferred growing rice on the best soils after an indigo harvest. The land could not be used for sowing rice, the ryots were reluctant to grow indigo.
7. What were the circumstances which led to the eventual collapse of indigo production in Bengal?
Ans : The ryots in Bengal got fed up with the coercive methods the planters used with them and finally refused to grow indigo. They became violent. They not only refused to pay rents to the planters, but also attacked indigo factories armed with swords and spears, bows and arrows. Meanwhile the local zamindars and village headmen also began to favour the indigo ryots. They mobililsed the indigo peasants and fought pitched battles with the lathiyals, the lathi- wielding strong men maintained by the planters. In other places even the zamindars went around villages urging the ryots to resist the planters. 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 method they used with indigo cultivators. It declared that indigo production was not profitable for ryots. The commission asked the ryots to fulfill their existing contracts but also told them that they could refuse to produce indigo in future. After this revolt, indigo production collapsed in Bengal.
