Rural Life and Society Chapter Notes | History Class 8 ICSE PDF Download

Introduction

The Agrarian Policies of the British

• Agriculture was the primary income source for the British in India.
• Initially, the East India Company followed traditional revenue collection methods.
• Gradually introduced new land revenue systems to collect maximum revenue.
• Revenue was used to buy goods for export, maintain an army, run administration, and fund wars.
• Previously, goods were bought with imported gold and silver; now, revenue from Bengal was used.
• Bengal’s economy faced a crisis, causing artisans to leave villages and peasants to struggle with high dues.
• In 1770, a severe famine killed about one-third of Bengal’s population.

Revenue Farming System

• Introduced by Warren Hastings, where revenue collection rights were auctioned to the highest bidder for five years.
• Bidding was not based on land’s actual productivity, leading to overly high bids.
• Farmers focused on extracting maximum revenue, ignoring agricultural productivity.
• Peasants faced heavy revenue demands, causing financial strain.
• Revenue farmers did not improve land, as it was periodically auctioned.
• This system led to the ruin of the agricultural community.
• The Company introduced new systems to ensure steady income and restore agriculture.

Permanent Settlement

• Introduced in 1793 by Lord Cornwallis in Bengal.
• Zamindars were given land ownership rights and became hereditary owners.
• Peasants became tenants of zamindars, paying a fixed revenue amount.
• Aim was to ensure regular income for the Company and encourage zamindars to improve land.
• Fixed revenue was meant to reduce corruption by officials.
• Peasants faced high revenue demands, with no relief during crop failures, floods, or droughts.
• Peasants often borrowed money from moneylenders, leading to debt traps.
• Zamindars did not invest in land improvement due to high fixed revenue.
• Zamindars had to pay revenue by a fixed date, or their land was auctioned.

Ryotwari Settlement

• Introduced by Thomas Munro in Madras Presidency and later in Bombay Presidency.
• Revenue was collected directly from peasants (ryots) by the East India Company.
• Land was surveyed and assessed to fix revenue, aiming to avoid zamindar exploitation.
• In practice, peasants became tenants, with the government as the landowner.
• No proper surveys were conducted in many areas, leading to over-assessment.
• High revenue demands impoverished peasants, who fell into debt.
• Failure to pay dues led to land being sold by the government.
• Land market suffered as people avoided buying land due to high revenue demands.

Mahalwari Settlement

• Introduced in 1822 by Holt Mackenzie in North-Western Provinces, Central India, and Punjab.
• Mahal referred to a village or group of villages with joint land ownership.
• Village community was responsible for paying revenue, calculated by summing individual plot revenues.
• Revenue was collected by the village headman.
• Over-assessment, corrupt practices, and faulty surveys led to uncultivated or ruined land.
• Peasants faced heavy debt and financial burdens.

Effect and Impact of the British Revenue Policies

• All revenue systems aimed to maximize land revenue, leading to over-assessment.
• High revenue demands caused peasants to flee, sell, or mortgage their land.
• Peasants borrowed money to pay dues, often becoming bonded laborers (begari).
• Agriculture stagnated as neither the British nor zamindars improved land productivity.
• No facilities like irrigation, fertilizers, or tools were provided to peasants.
• Land productivity declined, leading to crop shortages and frequent famines.
• Villages lost self-sufficiency as they were forced to grow commercial crops.
• Industrial Revolution reduced demand for Indian handicrafts, forcing artisans into agriculture.
• This increased pressure on farmers, worsening their condition.

Growth of Commercial Crops

• British encouraged peasants to grow cash crops like indigo, tea, coffee, rubber, jute, cotton, silk, and opium.
• These crops served as raw materials for British industries.
• Crops were grown on large plantations, mostly owned by British or European planters.
• Peasants were forced to grow and sell these crops at low prices.
• Lack of storage facilities forced peasants to sell crops immediately after harvest.
• This led to low income for peasants and a decline in food grain production.
• Food shortages further impoverished peasants.
• Oppressive revenue systems and forced crop cultivation led to peasant revolts.

Indigo

• Indigo is a blue dye from the indigo plant, used for coloring textiles.
• It was a major Indian export, in high demand in Europe.
• Supply from the West Indies and America collapsed, increasing demand for Indian indigo.
• The Company forced Bengal and Bihar farmers to grow indigo.
• Indigo production in Bengal grew rapidly, dominating the world market by 1810 (95% exported to Britain).
• Commercial agents and Company officials invested in indigo due to high profits.
• English and Scottish planters moved to India, taking loans to start indigo production.

Causes for the Indigo Rebellion

• Indigo required fertile, densely populated land, exhausting soil fertility.
• Rice could not be grown after indigo due to soil depletion.
• Planters needed large areas, often evicting peasants to lease land.
• Labor was required when peasants were busy with rice cultivation.
• Indigo was grown through nij (planter-controlled land) and ryoti (peasant contracts) systems.
• In the ryoti system, peasants signed contracts (satta) for cash advances at low interest.
• Peasants had to grow indigo on 25% of their land, using planter-provided seeds and tools.
• Low prices for indigo and continuous loans trapped peasants in a debt cycle.
• Oppressive systems led to peasant revolts.

The Indigo Rebellion

• In 1859, Bengal ryots refused to grow indigo, known as the Indigo or Blue Rebellion.
• Ryots stopped paying rents, attacked indigo factories, and socially boycotted planters’ workers.
• Women also participated in the rebellion.
• Village headmen and zamindars supported ryots, feeling threatened by planters’ power.
• Lieutenant Governor John Peter Grant banned forced advances for indigo cultivation.
• The rebellion gained attention through newspapers and the play Neel Darpan by Dinabandhu Mitra.
• The government deployed the military to protect planters.
• The Indigo Commission was formed, finding planters guilty of coercive methods.
• Ryots were asked to complete existing contracts but could refuse future indigo production.

Fun Fact 

• Neel Darpan by Dinabandhu Mitra highlighted indigo cultivators’ plight.
• Translated into English by Michael Madhusudan Dutt, published by Rev. James Long.
• Attracted attention in India and Britain, leading to Long’s imprisonment and fine.
• The play was staged at the National Theatre in Calcutta, raising awareness.
• After the rebellion, indigo production nearly stopped in Bengal but continued in Bihar.
• In Bihar, oppressive practices persisted, leading to revolts into the 20th century.
• In 1917, Mahatma Gandhi led the Champaran Movement against indigo planters in Bihar.

Case Study: Impact on Punjab and Bengal

• Punjab was annexed in 1849, and British rule brought political stability.
• Extensive canal systems expanded arable land in Punjab.
• Crops like cotton, wheat, and pulses were grown, increasing agricultural prosperity.
• In Bengal, land revenue systems impoverished peasants and destroyed the rural economy.
• Famines worsened peasants’ conditions in Bengal.
• Peasant rebellions occurred across India, initially led by Mughal zamindars, later by peasants.

Producing Indigo in the West Indies in 1725

• Jean Baptiste Labat documented indigo production in Caribbean slave plantations.
• Workers cut indigo branches, soaked them in settler vats, and fermented them in tanks.
• Indigo settled at the tank bottom, was drained, and dried in the sun.

Points To Remember

• Permanent Settlement (1793, Cornwallis) fixed revenue, making zamindars landowners.
• Ryotwari Settlement (Munro, Madras/Bombay) involved direct revenue collection from peasants.
• Mahalwari Settlement (1822, Mackenzie) assigned revenue responsibility to village communities.
• Peasants often became bonded laborers to pay debts.
• British forced cultivation of cash crops like indigo, tea, coffee, etc., for industrial raw materials.
• Indigo, a key export, was forcibly grown in Bengal and Bihar.
• Indigo Rebellion (1859, Bengal) saw ryots resist planters’ oppression.
• Indigo Commission allowed ryots to refuse future indigo production after fulfilling contracts.
• Indigo production stopped in Bengal but continued in Bihar until the 20th century.