3. ruling the countryside

RULING THE COUNTRYSIDE- CLASS HISTORY CHAPTER -3

1. RULING THE COUNTRYSIDE

2. INTRODUCTION With the victory in Battle of Buxor , East India Company completed annexation of Bengal. Company in fact wanted to become the nawab of Bengal instead depending on puppet nawabs . The purpose was to acquire financial power in its hand. To realize its ambitions company introduced several economic measures. They included new revenue settlements. According to company’s plan its revenue sources could be used for military expenses and buying products to export to Britain.

3. The Occasion of Granting Diwani Right Robert Clive accepting the Diwani of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa from the Mughal emperor Shah Alam -II`

4. MAP OF INDIA OF 1765 AND 1805

5. COMPANY BECOMES THE DIWAN The Treaty of Alhabad was concluded on 12 August 1765, between the Mughal emperor Shah Alam – II and The Company ( Robert Clive). According to which East India Company became the Diwan of Bengal. That is the right to collect revenue from provinces of Bengal, Orissa and Bihar. The company became chief financial administrator. It had to administer land and organize revenue. The effort was to yield as much revenue as it could to meet its growing expenses. The company had to buy it needed and sell what it wanted.

6. The company was primarily a trader though it acquired Diwani right. Unwilling to set up regular system of revenue assessment. Its effort was to increase revenue to buy cotton and silk at cheaper rate. Before 1765 company purchased goods by importing gold and silver from England. Now revenue collected from Bengal could finance for buying goods. But, artisans deserted villages as they were forced to sell their goods at cheaper price. So both artisanal and agricultural production declined. Most disastrous was the death of 10 million people due to famine in 1770. Revenue for the Company

7. Peasants and artisans from rural areas regularly came to these weekly markets ( haats ) to sell their goods and buy what they needed. A weekly market in Murshidabad in Bengal.

8. REVENUE SETTLEMENTS EMPLOYED BY THE COMPANY Various revenue system were employed by the company to realize it revenue demand. Old Z amindari System Permanent System Mahalwari system Ryotwari system

9. Old Z amindari System During the tenure of Warren Hastings no changes were introduced in revenue system. He followed the Zamindari system of the Mughals. This was the revenue settlement made between the Company and Zamindars . Zamindar was supposed to collect revenue from the peasants and pay to the company. The Company Zamindar Peasants

10. CONCEPT MAP OF OLD ZAMINDARI SYSTEM EAST INDIA COMPANY ZAMINDARS PEASANTS

11. The need to improve agriculture PERMANENT SETTLEMENT Governor General Lord Corn Wallis introduced permanent Settlement in 1793. Permanent settlement was a revenue settlement between East India Company and Zamindar ( Local rajas and taluqdars ), Lord Charles Cornwallis

12. FEATURES OF PERMANENT SETTLEMENT According to terms of settlement local ra jas and taluqdars were recognised as zamindars . These zamindars were asked to collect revenue from peasants for the company . The amount to be paid was fixed permanently and not be increased in future . The purpose was to ensure regular flow of income . To encourage zamindars to invest on improving land.

13. CONCEPT MAP OF PERMANENT SETTLEMENT EAST INDIA COMPANY ZAMINDARS PEASANTS

14. PERMANENT SETTLEMENT PROBLEMS Zamindars did not invest on the improvement of land. Revenue fixed was so high. Zamindars who failed to pay the revenue lost their zamindari right. When prices in the market increased, zamindars gained income. But no gain for company. Cultivators found the system as oppressive. Cultivators often had to borrow moneys to pay revenue.

15. Mahalwari system of revenue was devised by an Englishman HOLT MACKENZIE in 1822. Implemented in North Western provinces of Bengal Presidency. Holt M ackenzie MAHALWARI SYSTEM

16. MAHALWARI SYSTEM PROVISIONS OF MAHALWARI SYSTEM According to the provisions, this was a settlement between the Company and the M ahal . Mahal means a village or group of villages. Headmans of the mahal formed a ‘Body of Co- Sharers’ which was responsible for collecting revenue from peasants and pay to the company. Revenue collected was not fixed and could be increased in near future. Body of Co – sharers( Mahal ) had the ownership on land. If any peasant fails to pay the revenue his land was taken over by the mahal and allotted to other peasant. Further, mahal was supposed to create agricultural land and allot to peasants.

17. CONCEPT MAP OF MAHALWARI SYSTEM EAST INDIA COMPANY BODY OF CO-SHARES (MAHAL) PEASANTS

18. RYOTWARI SYSTEM A new system of Revenue Settlement was introduced in South India. This system was known as Ryotwar or Ryotwari system. Capt. Alexander Read introduced on small scale after war with Tippu . Further it was developed by Thomas Munro and extended all over South India. So, both Read and Munro felt that settlement had to be made directly with cultivators( Ryots ) who had tilled the land for generation. Revenue assessment was made only after land was carefully and separately surveyed. Munro also felt the British should act as paternal fathers to protect the rights of ryots . THOMAS MUNRO

19. CONCEPT MAP OF RYOTWARI SYSTEM EAST INDIA COMPANY NO MIDDLEMAN PEASANTS

20. All was not well None of the revenue settlements was good. Revenue rate fixed or collected was very high. Peasants fled the countryside due to inability to pay the revenue. The imagination of officials of new system transforming peasants into rich enterprising farmers failed.

21. CROPS FOR EUROPE For British countryside India not only yielded revenue but also grow crops they required. They expanded the cultivation of opium and indigo by late 18 th century. They also forced farmers to grow other crops; They include Jute - Bengal Tea - assam Sugarcane - United Provinces(UP) Wheat - Punjab Cotton - Punjab, Maharashtra Rice - Madras British used a variety of methods to expand the cultivation of crops that they needed .

22. Which is the dominant colour in the following p ictures? A kalamkari print, twentieth- century India – Andhra Pradesh A Morris cotton print, late nineteenth- century England

23. INDIGO CROP

24. If your answer is blue, you are correct. Blue is commonly called as Indigo. How is indigo colour produced? Indigo colour is produced from a plant called indigo cultivated in India. India was biggest supplier of indigo in the world during colonial period.

25. HOW WAS INDIGO PRODUCED

26. Why the demand for Indian Indigo? The indigo plant grows primarily in the tropics. By the thirteenth century Indian indigo was being used by cloth manufacturers in Italy, France and Britain to dye cloth . A small amount of Indian indigo reached European market and its price was very high. So European cloth manufacturers depended on woad to produce blue and violet colour . It was grown in Northern Italy and southern France and parts of Germany and Britain. Its producers pressurized their governments to ban import of Indigo. But cloth dyers preferred indigo for its rich blue colour .

27. MAP OF THE WORLD SHOWING WOAD CULTIVATION

28. Driven by the pressure to lift ban on Indian indigo, They themselves started growing indigo in their colonies; France – St. Dominique - Caribbean islands Portugal – Brazil England – Jamaica Spain - Venezuela Indigo plantations also came up in North America. With industrialization in England demand for indigo increased. So, cloth dyers desperately looked towards Indian Indigo. Why the demand for Indian Indigo?

29. BRITAIN TURNS TO INDIA With the rising demand for indigo, company thought of expanding indigo cultivation in Inda . From the last decades of the eighteenth century indigo cultivation in Bengal expanded rapidly and dominated the world market . In 1788 only about 30 per cent of the indigo imported into Britain was from India . By 1810, the proportion had gone up to 95 per cent . Seeing the prospect of high income from indigo cultivation, many Scottish and English came to India and started Indigo prodcution .

30. HOW WAS INDIGO CULTIVATED? Methods of Indigo cultivation Nij Ryoti

31. Nij System nij was a system of indigo cultivation. P lanter produced indigo in the lands that is directly controlled by him. He either bought or rented the land from others. He produced indigo by employing hired labourers .

32. Problem With NIJ Cultivation Fertile land was not available. Planters couldn’t get large areas in compact blocks to cultivate indigo in plantations . They tried lease others’ lands but it led to conflicts. Mobilising labour and bullock carts was not easy. L abour was needed precisely at a time when peasants were usually busy with their rice cultivation.

33. Under ryoti , planters forced peasants( ryots ) to sign a contract( satta )-an agreement. Viilage headmans had to sign contract on behalf of ryots . Those who signed contract, got cash advance from planters at low rate of interest to grow indigo. But loan committed the ryot to grow indigo on about 25% of his land holding. The planter provided the seed and drill. Ryot prepared the soil, sowed seed and looked after the crop. Ryoti System

34. Problem with ryoti system Once indigo was harvested, a new loan was given to ryot . Ryots felt the system was harsh as the cycle of loan was never ending. Ryots got very low price to their indigo. The planter chose the best soil in which peasant wanted cultivate rice. After indigo was harvested land could not sown rice as it lost fertility.

35. The “Blue Rebellion” and After Fed up with oppressive ryoti system peasants decided to not accept loan anymore. This led to clash between planters and peasants when they refused to grow indigo in March 1859. As rebellion spread ryots refused to pay rent, attacked indigo factories armed with sword, spears, arrows and bows. Women too came out with kitchen implements. Planters boycotted, gomastas were beaten up. In many areas village headmen and zamindars mobilized indigo peasants and fought pitched battle with lathiyals . Because zamindars were also not happy with planters.

36. Did Government Support Indigo Rebellion? The British government was worried about the possibility of another popular rebellion after 1857 revolt. Lt. governor toured the troubled districts in 1859. This was seen as sympathy towards indigo growers. Magistrate Ashley Eden issued a notice stating that ryots would not be compelled to accept indigo contracts. Intellectuals of Calcutta visited indigo districts and wrote horror of indigo system. The Government set up Indigo Commission The Commission held planters guilty, asked ryots to refuse contracts in future.

37. After the rebellion indigo production in Bengal collapsed and shifted to Bihar. But, discovery of synthetic dye in late nineteenth century indigo industry severely affected. In 1917, Mahatma Gandhi visited Champaner of Bihar to see the [plight of indigo cultivators and demanded The government to look into the matter.

38. CONCLUSION

39. THANK YOU

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