New Influence And Transition Under The British Rule- I | Maharashtra State PSC (MPSC): Preparation - MPSC (Maharastra) PDF Download

 Page 1


18
2
NEW INFLUENCE AND TRANSITION
UNDER THE BRITISH RULE- I
UNIT STRUCTURE
2.0 Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Land T enures
2.3 Revenue settlement and administration
2.4 Revenue collection during last days of Peshwaship
2.5 Transition under the British Rule.
2.6 Education and the Press
2.7 Summary
2.8 Questions
2.0 OBJECTIVES :
1 T o understand Land T enures.
tration.
.
INTRODUCTION :
Basically Englishmen were traders, later on they became rulers.
They wee imbued with the modern ideas of humanism, Liberalism and
scientific outlook. They allowed to continue the old land tenures for
sometimes. The Marathas were following the system of Malik Amber in
revenue settlement. Land was classified and measured and tax was
fixed periodically. Revenue was collected by village headman Patil,
Patel, Kulkarni, Deshmukh, Deshpande etc.
Britishers followed the Rayatwari system in Maharashtra.  Land-
tax was high and ryat had to incur debts which ruined the peasantry.
Page 2


18
2
NEW INFLUENCE AND TRANSITION
UNDER THE BRITISH RULE- I
UNIT STRUCTURE
2.0 Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Land T enures
2.3 Revenue settlement and administration
2.4 Revenue collection during last days of Peshwaship
2.5 Transition under the British Rule.
2.6 Education and the Press
2.7 Summary
2.8 Questions
2.0 OBJECTIVES :
1 T o understand Land T enures.
tration.
.
INTRODUCTION :
Basically Englishmen were traders, later on they became rulers.
They wee imbued with the modern ideas of humanism, Liberalism and
scientific outlook. They allowed to continue the old land tenures for
sometimes. The Marathas were following the system of Malik Amber in
revenue settlement. Land was classified and measured and tax was
fixed periodically. Revenue was collected by village headman Patil,
Patel, Kulkarni, Deshmukh, Deshpande etc.
Britishers followed the Rayatwari system in Maharashtra.  Land-
tax was high and ryat had to incur debts which ruined the peasantry.
19
According to term ‘Whiteman’s Burden’ Lord Elphinstone took
interest in giving education to native people. Christian Missionaries had
already started the work of  learning regional languages and Sanskrit.
Charter Act of 1813, and Bombay Native Education Society gave
boost to education in Bombay and Maharastra.
There were two groups of learning. One was the oriental learning
and other was western learning. The Charter Act. of 1853 and ‘Wood 's
Despatch provided for the expansion of education in India.
Because of Western Education many public spirited  men like
Jagannath Shankar Sheth, Jamshetji Jeegibhoy, Jambhekar,
Lokahitavadi started journalism for awakening of mass people.
LAND TENURES :
The collapse of the Maratha Power was a sad event in the life of
the people of Maharashtra.  They had experienced the vicissitudes of
political fortunes.  The disaster of the Panipat (1761) was still fresh in
the memory of the old generation.  The new generation however had not
forgotten the good old days of expansion of Maratha Power. Their armies
were marching throughout India. The army of the Peshwa was defeated
and the people were silenced for sometime.
The East India Company in their hour of victory did not perpetrate
any atrocities on the people. That was the practice of the victors of the
Medieval Age. These Englishmen though basically traders, merchants
and soldiers of the Company were imbued with the modern ideas of
humanism, Liberalism and Scientific outlook. They championed the
ideas of ‘Free Trade’, ‘Western Learning’ and the ‘Whiteman’s Burden’.
They were obsessed with the belief that the people of the East are unfit
for self rule, their religion is mere superstition and they lack spirit of
nationalism as understood in the West.
The Company was fortunate to have at that time a band of brilliant
men in their service. They carried out their duty with a sense of mission
but could not rise above their low objective of colonial exploitation and
denied rights and privileges which their own people demanded in their
home country. We shall now attempt to describe their efforts to fashion
the Indian people according to the ideals envisaged by them during the
transition under their Rule.
We shall study the first two topics in this unit namely (1) Land T enures
and Revenue Settlement and (2) Education and the Press. Before
describing the new influence and transition under the new rulers it would
be instructive to give a brief account of the pattern generally followed by
the Marathas upto the end of their rule.
Page 3


18
2
NEW INFLUENCE AND TRANSITION
UNDER THE BRITISH RULE- I
UNIT STRUCTURE
2.0 Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Land T enures
2.3 Revenue settlement and administration
2.4 Revenue collection during last days of Peshwaship
2.5 Transition under the British Rule.
2.6 Education and the Press
2.7 Summary
2.8 Questions
2.0 OBJECTIVES :
1 T o understand Land T enures.
tration.
.
INTRODUCTION :
Basically Englishmen were traders, later on they became rulers.
They wee imbued with the modern ideas of humanism, Liberalism and
scientific outlook. They allowed to continue the old land tenures for
sometimes. The Marathas were following the system of Malik Amber in
revenue settlement. Land was classified and measured and tax was
fixed periodically. Revenue was collected by village headman Patil,
Patel, Kulkarni, Deshmukh, Deshpande etc.
Britishers followed the Rayatwari system in Maharashtra.  Land-
tax was high and ryat had to incur debts which ruined the peasantry.
19
According to term ‘Whiteman’s Burden’ Lord Elphinstone took
interest in giving education to native people. Christian Missionaries had
already started the work of  learning regional languages and Sanskrit.
Charter Act of 1813, and Bombay Native Education Society gave
boost to education in Bombay and Maharastra.
There were two groups of learning. One was the oriental learning
and other was western learning. The Charter Act. of 1853 and ‘Wood 's
Despatch provided for the expansion of education in India.
Because of Western Education many public spirited  men like
Jagannath Shankar Sheth, Jamshetji Jeegibhoy, Jambhekar,
Lokahitavadi started journalism for awakening of mass people.
LAND TENURES :
The collapse of the Maratha Power was a sad event in the life of
the people of Maharashtra.  They had experienced the vicissitudes of
political fortunes.  The disaster of the Panipat (1761) was still fresh in
the memory of the old generation.  The new generation however had not
forgotten the good old days of expansion of Maratha Power. Their armies
were marching throughout India. The army of the Peshwa was defeated
and the people were silenced for sometime.
The East India Company in their hour of victory did not perpetrate
any atrocities on the people. That was the practice of the victors of the
Medieval Age. These Englishmen though basically traders, merchants
and soldiers of the Company were imbued with the modern ideas of
humanism, Liberalism and Scientific outlook. They championed the
ideas of ‘Free Trade’, ‘Western Learning’ and the ‘Whiteman’s Burden’.
They were obsessed with the belief that the people of the East are unfit
for self rule, their religion is mere superstition and they lack spirit of
nationalism as understood in the West.
The Company was fortunate to have at that time a band of brilliant
men in their service. They carried out their duty with a sense of mission
but could not rise above their low objective of colonial exploitation and
denied rights and privileges which their own people demanded in their
home country. We shall now attempt to describe their efforts to fashion
the Indian people according to the ideals envisaged by them during the
transition under their Rule.
We shall study the first two topics in this unit namely (1) Land T enures
and Revenue Settlement and (2) Education and the Press. Before
describing the new influence and transition under the new rulers it would
be instructive to give a brief account of the pattern generally followed by
the Marathas upto the end of their rule.
20
2.2.1 Main features of the Maratha system of Land Tenures
There were two systems of Land T enures and Revenue Settlement
followed by the Marathas, the one was for their home territory and the
other for other lands. They termed the former as ‘Swarajya’ and the latter
as ‘Samrajya’. We are not concerned with territories outside
Maharashtra. Prof R.V.Oturkar has provided us with useful information
on this subject.
(1) The T odarmal system modified by Malik Amber for Nizamshahi
of Ahmednagar in the 17th century was adopted with slight changes to
meet the needs of time.
(2) The emphasis was on safeguarding the interest of the cultivator
as he was regarded as the backbone of the national economy.
(3)  Land - Tenures  were divided into two broad categories i.e.
(a)‘Thal’ land and (b) ‘Watans’. The land cultivated by original settlers
was known as ‘Thal’ land and the tax free land granted by the king in
recognition of the services to the State was known as ‘Watan’. This was
prized land tenure as it was hereditary and carried many benefits and
high status.
(4) Miras and Upari – Lands was another classification for the
purpose of revenue collection. Land assigned by the State to the Original
settlers was known as ‘Miras’ whereas land assigned to new settlers for
cultivation was known as ‘Upari’ land.  Usually the new settlers were
given fallow, unused or waste land for cultivation.  They would loose their
lease-hold if they could not make satisfactory payment to the state. They
were regarded as tenants at will whereas the Mirasdars were treated
with respect as they had the responsibility to pay the revenue for the
whole village or villages under their charge.
 (5) The Jagir system was discouraged by Chhatrapati Shivaji but
during the reign of Chhatrapati Shahu this system became popular. In
fact it became an instrument of territorial expansion as the Jagirdars
were allowed to collect ‘Chouth’ and ‘Sardeshmukhi’ on behalf of the
king in territories outside Maharashtra. In Mahatashtra itself the Jagirdars
had civil as well as political responsibility.
REVENUE SETTLEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION:
As already mentioned above the Marathas followed the time-
honoured Malik Amber System of revenue settlement. Land was
classified and measured and the land tax was fixed periodically. The
Maratha government was more concerned with more yields from the
fields and extensive cultivation. It helped the cultivators during bad
seasons by remission of taxes and offering “tagai” or loans to tide over
difficulties.
Page 4


18
2
NEW INFLUENCE AND TRANSITION
UNDER THE BRITISH RULE- I
UNIT STRUCTURE
2.0 Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Land T enures
2.3 Revenue settlement and administration
2.4 Revenue collection during last days of Peshwaship
2.5 Transition under the British Rule.
2.6 Education and the Press
2.7 Summary
2.8 Questions
2.0 OBJECTIVES :
1 T o understand Land T enures.
tration.
.
INTRODUCTION :
Basically Englishmen were traders, later on they became rulers.
They wee imbued with the modern ideas of humanism, Liberalism and
scientific outlook. They allowed to continue the old land tenures for
sometimes. The Marathas were following the system of Malik Amber in
revenue settlement. Land was classified and measured and tax was
fixed periodically. Revenue was collected by village headman Patil,
Patel, Kulkarni, Deshmukh, Deshpande etc.
Britishers followed the Rayatwari system in Maharashtra.  Land-
tax was high and ryat had to incur debts which ruined the peasantry.
19
According to term ‘Whiteman’s Burden’ Lord Elphinstone took
interest in giving education to native people. Christian Missionaries had
already started the work of  learning regional languages and Sanskrit.
Charter Act of 1813, and Bombay Native Education Society gave
boost to education in Bombay and Maharastra.
There were two groups of learning. One was the oriental learning
and other was western learning. The Charter Act. of 1853 and ‘Wood 's
Despatch provided for the expansion of education in India.
Because of Western Education many public spirited  men like
Jagannath Shankar Sheth, Jamshetji Jeegibhoy, Jambhekar,
Lokahitavadi started journalism for awakening of mass people.
LAND TENURES :
The collapse of the Maratha Power was a sad event in the life of
the people of Maharashtra.  They had experienced the vicissitudes of
political fortunes.  The disaster of the Panipat (1761) was still fresh in
the memory of the old generation.  The new generation however had not
forgotten the good old days of expansion of Maratha Power. Their armies
were marching throughout India. The army of the Peshwa was defeated
and the people were silenced for sometime.
The East India Company in their hour of victory did not perpetrate
any atrocities on the people. That was the practice of the victors of the
Medieval Age. These Englishmen though basically traders, merchants
and soldiers of the Company were imbued with the modern ideas of
humanism, Liberalism and Scientific outlook. They championed the
ideas of ‘Free Trade’, ‘Western Learning’ and the ‘Whiteman’s Burden’.
They were obsessed with the belief that the people of the East are unfit
for self rule, their religion is mere superstition and they lack spirit of
nationalism as understood in the West.
The Company was fortunate to have at that time a band of brilliant
men in their service. They carried out their duty with a sense of mission
but could not rise above their low objective of colonial exploitation and
denied rights and privileges which their own people demanded in their
home country. We shall now attempt to describe their efforts to fashion
the Indian people according to the ideals envisaged by them during the
transition under their Rule.
We shall study the first two topics in this unit namely (1) Land T enures
and Revenue Settlement and (2) Education and the Press. Before
describing the new influence and transition under the new rulers it would
be instructive to give a brief account of the pattern generally followed by
the Marathas upto the end of their rule.
20
2.2.1 Main features of the Maratha system of Land Tenures
There were two systems of Land T enures and Revenue Settlement
followed by the Marathas, the one was for their home territory and the
other for other lands. They termed the former as ‘Swarajya’ and the latter
as ‘Samrajya’. We are not concerned with territories outside
Maharashtra. Prof R.V.Oturkar has provided us with useful information
on this subject.
(1) The T odarmal system modified by Malik Amber for Nizamshahi
of Ahmednagar in the 17th century was adopted with slight changes to
meet the needs of time.
(2) The emphasis was on safeguarding the interest of the cultivator
as he was regarded as the backbone of the national economy.
(3)  Land - Tenures  were divided into two broad categories i.e.
(a)‘Thal’ land and (b) ‘Watans’. The land cultivated by original settlers
was known as ‘Thal’ land and the tax free land granted by the king in
recognition of the services to the State was known as ‘Watan’. This was
prized land tenure as it was hereditary and carried many benefits and
high status.
(4) Miras and Upari – Lands was another classification for the
purpose of revenue collection. Land assigned by the State to the Original
settlers was known as ‘Miras’ whereas land assigned to new settlers for
cultivation was known as ‘Upari’ land.  Usually the new settlers were
given fallow, unused or waste land for cultivation.  They would loose their
lease-hold if they could not make satisfactory payment to the state. They
were regarded as tenants at will whereas the Mirasdars were treated
with respect as they had the responsibility to pay the revenue for the
whole village or villages under their charge.
 (5) The Jagir system was discouraged by Chhatrapati Shivaji but
during the reign of Chhatrapati Shahu this system became popular. In
fact it became an instrument of territorial expansion as the Jagirdars
were allowed to collect ‘Chouth’ and ‘Sardeshmukhi’ on behalf of the
king in territories outside Maharashtra. In Mahatashtra itself the Jagirdars
had civil as well as political responsibility.
REVENUE SETTLEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION:
As already mentioned above the Marathas followed the time-
honoured Malik Amber System of revenue settlement. Land was
classified and measured and the land tax was fixed periodically. The
Maratha government was more concerned with more yields from the
fields and extensive cultivation. It helped the cultivators during bad
seasons by remission of taxes and offering “tagai” or loans to tide over
difficulties.
21
The administration of revenue was handled competently by the
village headman and the accountant known as Patil or Patel and Kulkarni
respectively. The district level officers were ‘Deshmukh’ and
‘’Deshpande’ who in turn were under the control of the ‘Sarsubah’
equivalent, to a provincial governor. The financial transactions were
supervised by the finance minister or ‘Phadnis’.
The farmers in their villages also had to pay in kind for the services
rendered to them by the village social servants called ‘Balutedars’ and
‘Alutedars’. This was an integral part of the village economy.
REVENUE COLLECTION DURING LAST DAYS OF
PESHWASHIP :
Bajirao II the last Peshwa was in dire need of the funds to raise an
army to fight the company’s forces. He resorted to farming of land-taxes.
It meant he offered the commission to collect taxes to private agents
who would make the highest bid. No doubt huge amounts were collected
but it ruined most of the farmers in Maharashtra.
 TRANSITION UNDER THE BRITISH RULE :
The final victory of the East India company was a foregone
conclusion as the Maratha Chiefs at Nagpur, Baroda, Indore and Gwalior
had already accepted the subsidiary alliance with the company.  The
problems of peace were many the private treasure of the Peshwa had
to be discovered and seized to prevent him from further mischief.  The
Company’s officers were anxious to under take that activity as they would
be rewarded with a portion of the hidden wealth either from the Peshwa
or his protégés. Captain Robertson and Colonel Protter found gold
‘Mohars’ and cash worth several millions.  The temptation was too great.
Briggs and Rind two junior officers had a scuffle over the discovery of
Peshwas’s fabulous wealth.
Professor R.D. Chokesey has described the sorry state to convey
idea that the new rulers had to discipline themselves before they could
establish their authority over the defeated enemy.
Work of reconstruction
The gains of the military victory had to be prudently consolidated.
The new rulers could not allow their preconceived ideas and prejudices
about the fallen enemy to colour their vision of strong and stable
government in an alien country . They experienced many handicaps. They
came from a distant land, they did not know the language of the people.
They represented a trading company but they had to tackle the problems
of an agrarian economy. Mountstuart Elhinstone who was a Company
Page 5


18
2
NEW INFLUENCE AND TRANSITION
UNDER THE BRITISH RULE- I
UNIT STRUCTURE
2.0 Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Land T enures
2.3 Revenue settlement and administration
2.4 Revenue collection during last days of Peshwaship
2.5 Transition under the British Rule.
2.6 Education and the Press
2.7 Summary
2.8 Questions
2.0 OBJECTIVES :
1 T o understand Land T enures.
tration.
.
INTRODUCTION :
Basically Englishmen were traders, later on they became rulers.
They wee imbued with the modern ideas of humanism, Liberalism and
scientific outlook. They allowed to continue the old land tenures for
sometimes. The Marathas were following the system of Malik Amber in
revenue settlement. Land was classified and measured and tax was
fixed periodically. Revenue was collected by village headman Patil,
Patel, Kulkarni, Deshmukh, Deshpande etc.
Britishers followed the Rayatwari system in Maharashtra.  Land-
tax was high and ryat had to incur debts which ruined the peasantry.
19
According to term ‘Whiteman’s Burden’ Lord Elphinstone took
interest in giving education to native people. Christian Missionaries had
already started the work of  learning regional languages and Sanskrit.
Charter Act of 1813, and Bombay Native Education Society gave
boost to education in Bombay and Maharastra.
There were two groups of learning. One was the oriental learning
and other was western learning. The Charter Act. of 1853 and ‘Wood 's
Despatch provided for the expansion of education in India.
Because of Western Education many public spirited  men like
Jagannath Shankar Sheth, Jamshetji Jeegibhoy, Jambhekar,
Lokahitavadi started journalism for awakening of mass people.
LAND TENURES :
The collapse of the Maratha Power was a sad event in the life of
the people of Maharashtra.  They had experienced the vicissitudes of
political fortunes.  The disaster of the Panipat (1761) was still fresh in
the memory of the old generation.  The new generation however had not
forgotten the good old days of expansion of Maratha Power. Their armies
were marching throughout India. The army of the Peshwa was defeated
and the people were silenced for sometime.
The East India Company in their hour of victory did not perpetrate
any atrocities on the people. That was the practice of the victors of the
Medieval Age. These Englishmen though basically traders, merchants
and soldiers of the Company were imbued with the modern ideas of
humanism, Liberalism and Scientific outlook. They championed the
ideas of ‘Free Trade’, ‘Western Learning’ and the ‘Whiteman’s Burden’.
They were obsessed with the belief that the people of the East are unfit
for self rule, their religion is mere superstition and they lack spirit of
nationalism as understood in the West.
The Company was fortunate to have at that time a band of brilliant
men in their service. They carried out their duty with a sense of mission
but could not rise above their low objective of colonial exploitation and
denied rights and privileges which their own people demanded in their
home country. We shall now attempt to describe their efforts to fashion
the Indian people according to the ideals envisaged by them during the
transition under their Rule.
We shall study the first two topics in this unit namely (1) Land T enures
and Revenue Settlement and (2) Education and the Press. Before
describing the new influence and transition under the new rulers it would
be instructive to give a brief account of the pattern generally followed by
the Marathas upto the end of their rule.
20
2.2.1 Main features of the Maratha system of Land Tenures
There were two systems of Land T enures and Revenue Settlement
followed by the Marathas, the one was for their home territory and the
other for other lands. They termed the former as ‘Swarajya’ and the latter
as ‘Samrajya’. We are not concerned with territories outside
Maharashtra. Prof R.V.Oturkar has provided us with useful information
on this subject.
(1) The T odarmal system modified by Malik Amber for Nizamshahi
of Ahmednagar in the 17th century was adopted with slight changes to
meet the needs of time.
(2) The emphasis was on safeguarding the interest of the cultivator
as he was regarded as the backbone of the national economy.
(3)  Land - Tenures  were divided into two broad categories i.e.
(a)‘Thal’ land and (b) ‘Watans’. The land cultivated by original settlers
was known as ‘Thal’ land and the tax free land granted by the king in
recognition of the services to the State was known as ‘Watan’. This was
prized land tenure as it was hereditary and carried many benefits and
high status.
(4) Miras and Upari – Lands was another classification for the
purpose of revenue collection. Land assigned by the State to the Original
settlers was known as ‘Miras’ whereas land assigned to new settlers for
cultivation was known as ‘Upari’ land.  Usually the new settlers were
given fallow, unused or waste land for cultivation.  They would loose their
lease-hold if they could not make satisfactory payment to the state. They
were regarded as tenants at will whereas the Mirasdars were treated
with respect as they had the responsibility to pay the revenue for the
whole village or villages under their charge.
 (5) The Jagir system was discouraged by Chhatrapati Shivaji but
during the reign of Chhatrapati Shahu this system became popular. In
fact it became an instrument of territorial expansion as the Jagirdars
were allowed to collect ‘Chouth’ and ‘Sardeshmukhi’ on behalf of the
king in territories outside Maharashtra. In Mahatashtra itself the Jagirdars
had civil as well as political responsibility.
REVENUE SETTLEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION:
As already mentioned above the Marathas followed the time-
honoured Malik Amber System of revenue settlement. Land was
classified and measured and the land tax was fixed periodically. The
Maratha government was more concerned with more yields from the
fields and extensive cultivation. It helped the cultivators during bad
seasons by remission of taxes and offering “tagai” or loans to tide over
difficulties.
21
The administration of revenue was handled competently by the
village headman and the accountant known as Patil or Patel and Kulkarni
respectively. The district level officers were ‘Deshmukh’ and
‘’Deshpande’ who in turn were under the control of the ‘Sarsubah’
equivalent, to a provincial governor. The financial transactions were
supervised by the finance minister or ‘Phadnis’.
The farmers in their villages also had to pay in kind for the services
rendered to them by the village social servants called ‘Balutedars’ and
‘Alutedars’. This was an integral part of the village economy.
REVENUE COLLECTION DURING LAST DAYS OF
PESHWASHIP :
Bajirao II the last Peshwa was in dire need of the funds to raise an
army to fight the company’s forces. He resorted to farming of land-taxes.
It meant he offered the commission to collect taxes to private agents
who would make the highest bid. No doubt huge amounts were collected
but it ruined most of the farmers in Maharashtra.
 TRANSITION UNDER THE BRITISH RULE :
The final victory of the East India company was a foregone
conclusion as the Maratha Chiefs at Nagpur, Baroda, Indore and Gwalior
had already accepted the subsidiary alliance with the company.  The
problems of peace were many the private treasure of the Peshwa had
to be discovered and seized to prevent him from further mischief.  The
Company’s officers were anxious to under take that activity as they would
be rewarded with a portion of the hidden wealth either from the Peshwa
or his protégés. Captain Robertson and Colonel Protter found gold
‘Mohars’ and cash worth several millions.  The temptation was too great.
Briggs and Rind two junior officers had a scuffle over the discovery of
Peshwas’s fabulous wealth.
Professor R.D. Chokesey has described the sorry state to convey
idea that the new rulers had to discipline themselves before they could
establish their authority over the defeated enemy.
Work of reconstruction
The gains of the military victory had to be prudently consolidated.
The new rulers could not allow their preconceived ideas and prejudices
about the fallen enemy to colour their vision of strong and stable
government in an alien country . They experienced many handicaps. They
came from a distant land, they did not know the language of the people.
They represented a trading company but they had to tackle the problems
of an agrarian economy. Mountstuart Elhinstone who was a Company
commissioner of the Bombay Deccan led a team of his dedicated officer
to act with vigour and firmness. He exercised considerable restraint
and avoided repressive measures. He devoted much of his time as a
Governor of Bombay from 1819 to 1827 to Land Revenue settlement.
Education and Law and Administration.
We shall now discuss Land Revenue settlement and Education in
this lesson and Law and Administration along with other two topics of
this unit in the next lesson.
Land Revenue Settlement
The  new rulers had to give priority to the settlement of land tenures
and revenue collections as the people of Maharashtra as in other part of
India mainly depended on agriculture.
The success in this regard would determine the measures that
could be contemplated in accordance with current ideas about
humanism. liberalism and modern science. Some of the guiding
principles for the programme of reconstruction were as follows:-
(1) The old land tenures would be allowed to continue for sometime.
(2) The model of Permanent settlement of revenue was not to be
adopted.  The Madras Model of Ryatwari adopted by Thomas Munro
was to be followed with changes needed in the particular condition of
Maharashtra.
(3) The Company’s Government believed that the English officials
were competent and not corrupt whereas the Indian revenue officials of
the old regime were clever only in misappropriating the Government
collections.  Hence, their salaries should be kept low and they should be
vigilantly watched.
(4) The Western ideas of land tenure and right to the property should
be applied in determining the ownership of land.
(5) While assessing the land-revenue the rent of lands not sown by
the farmer was to be deducted as lands which were not actually ploughed.
The loss of crop of one year was to be regarded as compensated to the
‘ryat’ by the advantage of another year. In case of general stress and
pressure a general relief was to be granted to the ‘ryat’.
Administration of the revenue matters
The regime made vigorous attempts to centraIise resources. The
officers looked at the farmers with mistrust and suspicion. Hence while
fixing the rate of land·tax there was over assessment which created
tension among the cultivators and unrest everywhere. It was not because
of malice or ill-feeling towards the people but it was the result of
misunderstanding the complex system of land - tenures and assessment