CHAPTER 3�CLASS- VIII (HISTORY)

RULING THE COUNTRY SIDE

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BY�RAKESH LAKHIWAL

TGT SST JNV GUNA (M.P.)

INTRODUCTION :

• The Company becomes the Diwan
• Revenue for the company
• The Need to improve Agriculture
• Problems in Agriculture
• A new system is devised
• The Munro system and its problems
• Crops for the Europe
• Indigo cultivation and Nij
• Ryots forced to grow indigo: Blue Rebellion

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The first English ship salied towards India on 18^th century

Grant of Diwani and Financial

Powers

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• The East India Company was made the

Diwan of Bengal on 12 August 1765;

by then Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II.

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• Thus, the Company became of the chief financial administrator of the territory of Bengal.

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Powers

• The Company officials understood one important aspect of expanding their base in India.

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• They understood the importance of those who had ruled the countryside in the past, and had enjoyed authority and prestige.

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• The Company wanted to be careful not to annoy those people.

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Powers

• Growth of Revenue: Initially, the Company was just interested in collecting revenue so that its trade and other expenses could be financed.

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• But the Company was not interested in setting up any regular system of assessment and collection.

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• The revenue was enough to double the purchase by Company within five years.

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Problems faced by Bengal Province

• Growth of Problems for Common People: But the Bengal economy was facing a deep crisis.

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• Artisans were being forced to sell their goods to the Company at low prices and hence most of them were deserting their villages.

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• Peasants were not able to pay the dues.

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• Production by artisans declined and farm production also declined.

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• In 1770, a terrible famine hit Bengal. It killed 10 million people.

Robert Clive accepting the Diwani of Bengal

Robert Clive

• Robert Clive, 1st Baron Clive also known as Clive of India, Commander-in-Chief of British India.

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• Together with Warren Hastings he was one of the key early figures in the creation of British India.

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• Modern historians have criticised him for atrocities and pillaging of treasures which occurred in Bengal and India due to high

taxation he instituted new land revenue system.

Permanent Settlement

• The Company had to take some steps to improve agriculture by improving investment in land. The Permanent Settlement was introduced in 1793.

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• According to this, the Rajas and Taluqdars were recognized as zamindars and were given the responsibility of revenue collection from the peasants.
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Permanent Settlement

• The amount to be paid was fixed permanently and hence the name Permanent Settlement.

• The Company officials felt that it would ensure a regular flow of revenue. They also felt that this would motivate the zamindars to invest in improving the land.

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• The zamindars would benefit from increased production because the revenue demand would not be increased.

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Feature of the settlement

• Also known as Istamarai or Zamindari system

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• Patron: Lord Cornwallis 1793

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• Area : Bengal ,Bihar,Orissa,U.P&North Karnataka

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• Total area of Indian agriculture land: 19%

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• 1/10 part will be remain with Zamindar for his fulfillments of needs

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The Problems of Permanent Settlement

• The revenue was fixed at such a high level that the zamindars found it difficult to pay.

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• A zamindar who failed to pay the revenue lost his zamindari.

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• Hence, zamindars were not investing in the improvement of land.

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The Problems of Permanent Settlement

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• But the situation changed by the first decade of the nineteenth century.

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• There was price rise and expansion in cultivation.

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• The income of the zamindars increased but it did not result in any gain for the Company because of fixed revenue demand.

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• The zamindars preferred to earn as

much profit.

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• They were just happy to lease out the

land to tenants.

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• Extremely oppressive for the cultivator.

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• Pay a high rent to the zamindar but there was no security of his right on the land.

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• Cultivator often had to take loan from the moneylender, to pay rent.

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• Failure of payment of the rental meant eviction for the cultivator from the land.

The Problems of Permanent Settlement

Mahalwari Settlement

• Mahalwari system was introduced.

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• The village was known as mahal and hence this system was known as Mahalwari System.

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• It was also decided to revise the revenue demand periodically.

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• The village headman was given the responsibility of revenue collection.

Features of the Mahalwari settlement

• Patron : Holt Mackense 1822
• Revenue collection depends on production
• Area : South India, Awadh,Middle India & Punjab
• Total area of agriculture land: 30%
• Tax amount flexible

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The Munro System

• This system was also known as the Ryotwari system.

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• This system was developed by Thomas Munro.

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• This system was gradually implemented all over south India.
• There were no traditional zamindars in the south.
• Hence, the settlement had to be directly made with the cultivators (ryot).

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• The ryots had been tilling the land for generations.
• Their fields were carefully surveyed to make the revenue assessment.

Feature of the Munro System

• Patron: Thomas Munro & Capt. Alexander Read

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• Area : Tamilnadu(Baramahal),Madras,Mumbai & Assam 51%

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• Direct Tax Revenue: 33% to 55%

Thomas Munro, Governor of

Madras (1819 -26)

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• Sir Thomas Munro, 1st Baronet KCB (27 May 1761 – 6 July 1827) was a Scottish soldier and colonial administrator. He was an East India Company Army officer and statesman.

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• He served with his regiment during the hard- fought war against Haidar Ali (1780–1783), serving under his older and distant relation Major Sir Hector Munro, 8th of Novar.

Problems of Excessive Revenue Demand

• The revenue officials wanted to increase the income from land. Hence, they fixed very high revenue demand.

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• Peasants were not able to pay the revenue. The ryots fled the countryside and villages became deserted in many regions.

Crops for Europe

• The Company was trying to expand the cultivation of opium and indigo.

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• Forced the cultivators to produce other crops; like jute, tea, sugarcane, cotton, wheat and rice; to be supplied to Europe.

Old Court House, Fort William,

Calcutta, 1760-1774

High Demand of Indigo

• Indian indigo was being used in Italy, France and Britain.

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• The price of indigo was very high and hence a small amount of Indian indigo could reach the European market.
• Woad is another plant which is used for making violet and blue dyes.

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• The woad producers in Europe were worried by the competition from indigo and hence pressurized their governments to ban the import of indigo.

• But indigo was preferred by the cloth dyers.

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• Indigo cultivation was started by the French in St Dominique in the Caribbean islands.

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• The Portuguese began indigo cultivation in Brazil.

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• The British in Jamaica

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• The Spanish in Venezuela.

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• Indigo plantations were also started in many parts of North America.

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• Industrialization began in Britain and cotton production expanded manifold.

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• This created an enormous demand for cloth dyes.

The British indigo factory In india

India: A Major Source of Indigo

• The Company looked for ways to expand the area under indigo cultivation in India.

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• Only about 30% of indigo imported to Britain in 1788 was from India.

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• This figure went up to 95% by 1810.

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• Many people from Scotland and England came to India and became planters.

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• The Company and banks were giving loans for indigo cultivation at that time.

A morris cotton print late-nineteenth- century England

A kalamkari print twentieth century India.

SYSTEMS OF INDIGO CULTIVATION

Nij Cultivation:

• In this system, the planter produced indigo on those lands which were under his direct control.
• The planter either bought the land or rented it from other zamindars. He directly employed labourers to produce indigo.

The problem with nij cultivation

• Indigo could only be cultivated on fertile lands. But these areas were densely populated and hence, only small plots could be acquired. This made it difficult to expand the area under nij cultivation.

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• They attempted to lease in the land around the indigo factory. While doing so, they evicted the peasants from the area. Peasants’ eviction always created conflict and tension.

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• A large plantation required a large number of workers. Work at indigo plantation coincided with the time when peasants were busy with rice cultivation. Hence, mobilizing the labour for indigo cultivation was a difficult task.

Ryoti System

• Under the ryoti system, indigo cultivation was done by the ryots.
• The planters made the ryots to sign a contract or an agreement (satta).

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• Sometimes, they pressurized the village headmen to sign the contract on behalf of the ryots.

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• After signing the contract, the ryots got cash advances from the planters.

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• But after taking the loan, the ryot was committed to grow indigo on at least 25% of his land holding.
• Seeds and drills were provided by the planter.

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• The cultivators prepared the soil, sowed the seed and looked after the crop.
• But the planters bought indigo at low prices and hence the ryots were always in debt trap.

A picture of Leadenhall Street, London, c. 1837

Blue Rebellion

• Thousands of ryots in Bengal refused to grow indigo in March 1859.

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• The ryots refused to pay rents to the planters. They attacked indigo factories.

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• They used to be armed with swords and spears, bows and arrows.

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• Women also fought with pots, panda and kitchen implements.

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• Those who worked for the planters were socially boycotted.

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• The gomasthas were beaten up when they came to collect rent.

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• The gomasthas were the agents of indigo planters.

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• In many villages, headmen mobilized the indigo peasants against the lathiyals.

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• The headmen were angry because they had been forced to sign indigo contract.

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• Some zamindars were angry with the increasing power of the planters and at being forced to give them land on long leases.

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• So, some zamindars also supported the villagers in their revolt against the indigo planters.

Blue Rebellion

How The British Reacted?

• The possibility of another popular rebellion.
• The Lieutenant Governor toured the region in the winter of 1859.
• This was seen as a sign of sympathy by the ryots.
• They began to believe that the British government would support them in their struggle.
• Intellectuals from Calcutta rushed to the indigo districts.
• They began writing about the misery of the ryots and the horrors of the indigo system.
• The government called in the military to protect the planters.
• The Indigo Commission was set up to enquire into the system of indigo production.
• The Commission held the planters guilty. It asked the ryots to fulfill their existing obligations and then they were free to cultivate whatever they wished.

Indigo factory in india where the low cost of labour.

After the Revolt

• The indigo production collapsed in Bengal, after the revolt.

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• The planters now shifted their operation to Bihar.

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• Discovery of synthetic dyes in the late nineteenth century severely affected the business.

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• But the planters managed to expand production.

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• When Mahatma Gandhi returned from South Africa, the plight of indigo farmers in Champaran was brought to his notice.

• Mahatma Gandhi visited Champaran in 1917 and began the movement against the indigo planters.

The Indian indigo