Monday, November 30, 2009

RYOTWARI SYSTEM (1820) & MAHALWARI SYSTEM (1822)

RYOTWARI SYSTEM (1820) This system was intro­duced in Malabar, Coimbatore, Madras and,Madurai. Sub­sequently, this system was extended to Maharashtra, East Bengal, parts of Assam and Coorg. Under this system, the ownership and occupancy rights of land were vested in the ryots or tillers of the soil. They were required to pay the revenue directly to the Company. They were free to sell or transfer their lands. But the system failed to protect the interest of the ryats. The rate of revenue was too high and the method of collection inflexible; the peasants were forced to take loans from money-lenders which made the latter exploit them.

MAHALWARI SYSTEM (1822) The British introduced this system in the Gangetic valley, the North-West prov­inces, parts of central India and Punjab. Under this system, the revenue was determined on the basis of assessment of the produce of a Mahal (estate consisting of several villages). Here the settlement was made with the whole village community jointly and separately. While the ownership rights were vested with the individual peasants, the respon­sibility of payment of land revenue of the Company rested jointly with the village community. This system rather than protecting the peasants increased the social inequalities and proved economically disastrous.

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