COLONIALISM AND THE COUNTRYSIDE

Question 1. Why were the estates of the Zamindars auctioned in the colonial Bengal?
Why were many Zamindars auctioned after the permanent settlement in Bengal? Give two reasons.
Answer: Sometimes the big Zamindars were unable to pay the revenue. The amount of unpaid revenue
went on accumulating year after year.
So the government often auctioned the estates of those Zamindars who failed to pay the due revenue

Question 2. When was the Fifth Report submitted to the British Parliament? What was its objective?
Answer: The Fitth Report was submitted to the British Parliament in 1813. It was about the administration
and activities of the East India Company in India and proved helpful in regulating and controlling their rule.

Question 3. What was the Sunset Law of revenue?

Answer: According to Permanent Settlement of Land, it was necessary for the Zamindars to pay the
revenue punctually. But according to Sunset Law, if any Zamindar was unable to pay the revenue by sunset
of the specified date, then the Zamindari was bound to be auctioned by the government to recover the
dues.

Question 4. Why the Jotedars were more powerful in villages than that of the Zamindars? Give two
reasons.
Answer: The Zamindars lived in urban areas and Jotedars were located in villages with poor villagers.
They had direct control over a large section of villagers.
Jordans were often amongst the purchasers in the case of auction of the Zamindaris.

Question 5. When Cotton Supply Association and the Manchester Cotton Company were founded in
Britain? What was their objective?
Answer: Cotton Supply Association in Britain, was founded in 1857 and Manchester Cotton Company was
formed in 1859. Their objective was to encourage the production of cotton in every part of the world so that
their Company could grow.

Question 6. Tell any two drawbacks of the RyotWari system of revenue introduced in the Bombay
Deccan in 1920.
Answer: At many places, the amount of revenue was very high. Therefore, many peasants deserted their
villages and migrated to new regions.
Many areas had poor soil and fluctuating rainfall. When the rains failed, the peasants had a bad crop due to
which they found it impossible to pay the revenue.

Question 7. When was the Permanent Settlement introduced in Bengal? Who enforced it? What
ideas worked behind its imposition?
Or, With what major objectives did he British colonial power introduce permanent settlement in
Bengal during the 19th century?
Answer: The British introduced a new system of revenue collection in Bengal. It was called the Permanent
Settlement. It was introduced by Lord Charles Cornwallis in 1793. Under this system, the East India
Company had fixed the revenue that each Zamindar had to pay. If any Zamindar failed to make the
payment of the revenue in time, his estates were auctioned to recover the due revenue.
The ideas behind the system:
By introducing the Permanent Settlement, the British officials wanted to resolve the problems that they
faced. They were aware that the rural economy of Bengal was in crisis because of the following factors:
There was the recurrence of many famines.
There was a considerable decline in agricultural production.
The regular flow of Revenue: The need for Hour.
The British officials realised the need to enhance revenue resources. This could be done by encouraging
investments in agriculture and trade. Therefore they permanently fixed the rates of revenue to ensure a
regular flow of revenue.
#The main features of the Permanent Settlement were as follows:
The Zamindars were not the owners of land in the village.
The Zamindars were the collectors of revenue of the State.
The Zamindars had many villages under them. Sometimes they had as many as 400 villages
under their control.
The villages coming under one Zamindar formed one revenue estate.
The Zamindars collected rent from the villages under their control and paid this revenue to the
officials of the East India Company.
The Zamindars were responsible for the regular payment of revenue to the East India Company.
If ever they failed to do so their estate was auctioned.

Question 6.Give any five features of the life of the Paharis.

Or,Describe the lifestyle of the Paharis in the late 19th century.
Answer: Paharis lived around the hills of Rajmahal. Following were the main features of their life:
They lived in huts under the tamarind groves and rested under the shadow of mango trees.
They considered the whole of the region as their personal land.
They hunted in the forests and practised shifting cultivation.
They often resisted the entry of outsiders into their region.
Their chiefs used to maintain unity in their respective groups and used to settle their mutual
disputes. Chiefs also led their people in case of battles with other tribes and outsides.

Question 7. What was Damin-i-Koh? How it came into being?

Or,What was Damin-i-Koh?
Answer: Damin-i-Koh was the land of Santhals situated in the Rajmahal hills. The British persuaded the
Santhals to live in the foothills of Rajmahal by giving land to them. By 1832, a large part of the land was
demarcated as Damin-i-Koh and was declared as the land of Santhals. They had to live in this region,
practise plough agriculture and had to become settled agriculturalists. There was a stipulation in the
certificate of land grants that the minimum of 1/10 of the total area had to be cleared and had to be
cultivated within the first 10 years. The whole of this region was surveyed and mapped. This region was
enclosed by boundary pillars. In this way, this region was separated from the world of settled agriculturists
of plains and Paharias of the hills.

Question 8.Write a brief note on the Deccan Riots Commission and its report.
Or,Critically examine the Deccan Riots Commission's Report.
Answer: When the revolt spread in Deccan, the Bombay Government did not take it seriously. But the
Indian Government was worried by the memories of 1857 Revolt and therefore, it pressurised the Bombay
Government to set up a commission to find out causes of the revolt. The commission investigated in riot-
affected districts took statements of ryots, moneylenders and eyewitnesses. It also collected statistical data
on revenue rates, prices and interest rates of different regions and even collected reports of District
Collectors. On the basis of, the collected information, the commission prepared a report and produced it to
the British Parliament, in 1878. This report is known as the Deccan Riots. The report which provides the
basic material to historiggIS who wanted to study the peasant riots.

Question 9.How was the Ryotwari Settlement different from Permanent Settlement? Why was it
introduced?
Answer: In the Permanent Settlement, the taluqdars were the owners of the land. They paid a fixed rent to
the Company and distributed their land among the peasants. They earned the desired interest from them.
In other words, the Permanent Settlement benefitted the rich Zamindars. They had to pay the revenue that
was fixed in perpetuity. The state was unable to claim its share in the enhanced income of the farmers. On
the contrary, under the Ryotwari system, the government got tax from those who cultivated lands with their
own hands.
Under the Ryotwari system, all the middlemen were removed. This system was better tan the Permanent
Settlement of revenue. It increased' the rights of the farmers. It also increased the income of the State. In
fact, the Ryotwari Settlement was introduced to alleviate the drawbacks of the Permanent Settlement.
Question 10. What explains the anger of the Deccan ryots against the moneylenders?
Answer: The ryots were enraged and infuriated when the moneylenders refused to grant them loans.
They may be under debt but they were sad to find all the moneylenders insensitive to their plight. They were
anguished to see that the moneylenders had violated the customary norms of the country-side.
Moneylending was quite widespread even before the colonial rule. The moneylenders have always been very
powerful in society. There were a few customary norms between the moneylenders and ryots. First of all, the
moneylenders charged a fair and reasonable rate of interest.
The interest could not be more than the principal amount. The ryots were sad that these basic norms were
broken by the moneylenders under the colonial rule. When investigations were made, the Deccan Riots
Commission came to know that a moneylender had charged over Rs 2000/- as interest on a loan of Rs 100/-
There were several instances like this. So it was natural for the ryots to be sad at the injustice done to them
and the violation of the basic custom of moneylending. The ryots found moneylenders as dubious and
deceitful. They saw that many money-lenders manipulated laws and forged accounts.

Attempts to check the Moneylenders: The Colonial government passed a Limitation Law in 1852. It stated that
the loan bonds signed between the moneylenders and ryots would be valid for only three years. It was done to
check the accumulation of interest over time. But the moneylenders again flouted this law by
signing a new bond every three years. In the new bond, they calculated the original loan and the accumulated
interest. They added the amount and entered it as the principal amount in the new bond.
The Fraudulent means Adopted by the Moneylender.
The moneylenders fleeced the ryots by adopting various unfair means such as:
They refused to give receipts when the payment of loan was made.
They entered fictitious figures in bonds.
They bought the harvest of the peasants at very low prices.
They brought the property of the peasants under their control.
They made the illiterate peasants sign and put thumb impressions on documents.
They did not explain to the farmers what clauses they had inserted in the bonds.

Question 11. Show how the power of the Jotedars within a village was more effective than that of the
Zamindars.
OR, "Jotedars inevitably weakened Zamindars in Bengal by the end of the 18th century." Give
arguments to support the statement. (Delhi 2015)
Answer: The power of the Jotedars within the village was more effective than that of the Zamindars:
Jotedars were located in villages while
Zamindars lived in urban areas.
Indirectly controlled the ryots by advancing money, controlling local trade.
With holding payment of revenue.
Holding benami lands.
Purchased the auctioned estates of Zamindars.
They became alternate source of power in villages.

Question 12. "The battle between the hoe and plough was a long one". Substantiate the statement with
reference to the Santhal and Paharias of Raj Mahal Hills during 18th century. (Delhi 2016)
Answer: “The battle between the hoe and plough was a long one”
(i)The Paharias had problems with the people living in the plains. They charged taxes from them, raided into
their areas etc. Therefore, the Paharias were pushed back into the hills.
(ii)Santhals were settled on the peripheries of the Rajmahal hills by the British and the Paharias resisted it,
they were forced to withdraw deeper into the hills.
(iii)The Paharias had refused to use plough & settled agriculture.
(iv)They were restricted from moving down to the lower hills and valleys.
(v)They were confined to dry interior and to the barren and rocky upper hills.
(vi)This severely affected their lives and impoverished them.
(vii)Shifting agriculture depended on the ability to move to newer and newer lands.
(viii)When forests were cleared for cultivation, the lives of hunters also got affected.
Question 13. What was the Limitation Law? Why was this considered as a symbol of oppression
against the ryot of 19th century? Give three reasons. (All India 2016)
Answer: In 1859, British passed the Limitation Law which stated that the loan bond signed between
moneylenders and ryots would have validity for only three years. This law was meant to check the
accumulation of interest over the time. However, this law was considered as a symbol of oppression due to
the following reasons:
Moneylenders forced the ryots to sign a new bond for every three year and turned the law around.
When new bond was signed, the unpaid balance, i.e., original loan and interest was entered as
principal and and this principal interest was charged.
Moneylenders refused to give receipt when loans were repaid, entered fictitious figures in bond,
acquired the peasant's harvest at low price and ultimately took over the property of peasant.
Moneylenders brought the new regime of bond and deeds. Peasants were made to put thumb
impression and sign on the document without knowing the full details of the documents.

Question 14."The arguments and evidences offered by the Fifth-report cannot be accepted
uncritically". Give arguments.
Answer: The Fifth Report was a significant report, it continued shaping our conception for over a century and
a half about the nature and consequences of East India Company's Rule in Bengal in the late 18th century. It
served as basis for intense parliamentary debates on the nature of company's rule in India.
The evidence contained in the 'Fifth Report' is considered to be of great importance. But as it is an official
report, it should be read and anaylsed very carefully. The major short comings of this report included:
The Fifth report exaggerated the collapse of traditional zamindari power and the rate at which zamindar were
losing their lands. Zamindars were not always displaced given the indigenous methods they used to retain
their lands.
The report was biased because it wanted to highlight the maladministration of the East India Company in
India.
Question 15. "After introducing the Permanent Settlement in Bengal, the Zamindars regularly failed to
pay the land revenue demand". Examine the causes and consequences of it.
Answer: The permanent settlement had come into operation in 1793 by Lord Cornwallis. Under this system,
zamindars it collected revenue from peasants and handover it to the East India company. Company officials
felt that a fixed revenue demand would give zamindars a sense of security and assured of returns on their
investment, encourage them to improve their estates. In the early decades after the permanent settlement,
however, zamindars regularly failed to pay the revenue demand and unpaid balances accumulated.

The causes for this failure were:

(i) The initial demands were very high. This was because it was felt that if the demand was fixed for all time to
come, the company would never be able to claim a share of increased income from land when prices rose and
cultivation expanded.
(ii)To minimise this anticipated loss, the company fixed the revenue demand high, arguing that the burden on
zamindars would gradually decline as agricultural production expanded and prices rose.
(iii) This high demand was imposed in the 17905, a time when the prices of agricultural produce were
depressed, making it difficult for the ryots to pay their dues to the zamindar.
In fact, according to the Sunset Law i payment did not come in by sunset of the specified date, the zamindari
was liable to be auctioned.
(v) The permanent settlement initially limited the power of the zamindar to collect rent from the ryot and
manage his zamindari.

The consequences after the failure to fulfil the land revenue demands were:
(i) When a raja or zamindar failed to pay the revenue demand, a company official was speedily dispatched to
his zamindari with explicit instructions to take charge of the district and to use the most effectual of the raja or
zamindar and his officers'..
(ii) The East India Company subdued their authority and restrict their autonomy.
(iii) The zamindars troops were disbanded, customs duties abolished and their 'cutcherries' (courts) brought
under the supervision of a collector appointed by the company.
(iv) Zamindars lost their power to organise local justice and the local police.
(v) Over time the collectorate emerged as an alternative centre of authority, severely restricting what the
zamindar could do.
(vi) While many zamindars were facing a crisis at the end of the 18th century, a group of rich peasants also
known as Totedars', were consolidating their position in villages. They controlled local trade as well as money-
lending, exercising immense power over the poorer cultivators of the region.
(vii) Besides these, the estates of the zamindars also were auctioned for failure to make revenue payment and
at that time jotedars were after amongst the purchasers as they were most powerful in North Bengal.