When the British became the owners of Indian farmlands

After establishing itself as more than a trading company, the British needed a stable source of income. And what is more stable than the beautiful resourceful land of India?

How the permanent settlement deteriorated the conditions of the farmers; Image source: Environment and Society Portal

After the Battle of Plassey, the British were quick to establish and expand their control over the vast expanse of India. As more and more land came under the purview of the British, they realized the need to extract revenue out of it to meet their needs.

Under the British regime, land revenue administration was mainly done in three ways. One of these was the Permanent Settlement or Zamindari Bandobast.

The lands of Bengal and Bihar were extremely fertile which is why Charles Cornwallis introduced this land revenue settlement in 1793.

So, in these areas, Zamindars had a great deal of control over the lands and used to collect revenue under the rule of various rulers of the Mughal sultanate. The British wished to continue the same arrangements as that essentially because that would decrease their administrative costs. They let the zamindars have the land ownership rights and let them fix the revenue rate for the farmers.

The British fixed a permanent amount that the zamindars had to pay to them which is why this settlement was called Permanent settlement or Zamindari Bandobast. This fixed amount was based on the sharing mechanism that the British got 10/11th of the revenue leaving 1/11th for the Zamindar.

The Sunset Law was in place in Permanent settlement. This meant that the zamindar must pay the revenue to the British before the sunset of a pre-fixed date. If a zamindar fails to do so, it may lead to snatching away of their land ownership rights. So, even if Zamindars were the ones with the land ownership right, the ultimate keepers were the British.

Now, let’s look at the reasons for implementing this kind of land revenue settlement. Well, for starters, as already mentioned, the British needed sufficient revenue to bear the expense of their administrative costs in India. But a deeper reason could be seen as well. They wished to create a new class of zamindar who was not only friendly to the British but also loyal to them.

This actually happened. Of course, there were a few zamindars who lost their land ownership rights because of the sunset law, but most of them retained their lands and reaped huge benefits! Not only this, but our society has always been a pseudo-society, where prestige is linked to wealth and not to character. With an increase in their wealth, the prestige of the Zamindars in the society increased multiple folds which they credited to the British rule. This is why even during the Independence movement many rich Zamindars sided with the British.

This settlement benefitted the British too. They got huge revenue without incurring any administrative costs. They had Zamindars to do all the collecting which saved them a lot of time, cost, and effort. The only drawback for them was that the amount of revenue was fixed. So, in case there was any technological advancement in the field of farming, they were not able to increase the revenue amount since it was already pre-fixed.

However, if you think about it, it’s not like the British were losing a lot because rather than technological advancement, all these areas witnessed the deterioration in conditions of farmers and farmlands.

Since the rates for the peasants were decided at the discretion of the zamindars, in order to gain more, the peasants were taxed immensely. The condition of the farmers was reduced to ‘hand to mouth’ that is they only had enough to fill their bellies with nothing to save. Also, in the case of famines or droughts, there was no relief for them. When a natural calamity did happen, the farmers’ crops’ failed, and they had no savings. With no avenues to pay, for many, suicide became the only option.

Also, there was no one to invest in the fertility of the land. British didn't care about the lands of India, zamindars only cared about their income and farmers weren't in a position to do any sort of investments as they were spiraling in debt.

Without a doubt, this was one of the most, oppressive settlements that pushed many to the brink of poverty and subjected land to degradation. It was no wonder that the farmer class became one of the major groups to join the Revolt of 1857.