INDIGO ECONOMY AND THE REVOLT OF 1859

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After 1765, becoming the Diwan the Company (and later the Crown) continually struggled with the three related problems: (i) A lack of understanding of existing institutional arrangements, (ii) Limited administrative capacity, and (iii) Especially after the “Mutiny” of 1857, concerns with political stability.

East India Company encouraged the investment in land to improve the agriculture. The key event in this process, was the proclamation of the “Permanent Settlement” of 1793.  By the terms of the settlement, the rajas and taluqdars were recognized as zamindars. The zamindars were a diverse group. Some who had enormous estates, military capacity, and judicial and administrative responsibilities might well be called (Bose 1993, p. 70) “feudatory chiefs. ”

The zamindars were , only the first tier in the agrarian hierarchy. 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.

The Permanent Settlement remained ineffective because zamindars were not investing in the improvement of land. In In the North Western Provinces of the Bengal Presidency, an Englishman called Holt Mackenzie devised the new system called as ‘Mahalwari System’ which came into effect in 1822. 

He developed the system of land assessment . Collectors had to inspect and measure the land . They had to record the customs and rights of different groups. This survey was to be revised periodically, not permanently fixed. The charge of collecting the revenue and paying it to the Company was given to the village headman, rather than the zamindar.

In the British territories of the south the Ryotwari system was deployed and extended by Captain Alexander Read and Thomas Munro. For Munro ideally the title and the tax assignment would be with the cultivator himself, not with an intermediary like the zamindar. Full article is available on https://upsconline.com/indigo-economy-and-revolt-of-1859/

 

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